Assistance
by CLfev
Summary: Two dreamers wish the impossible and when it comes true, they have a task only they can do. Can they save the lives of James and Lily Potter? Can they bring justice to Sirius Black? Can they change Harry Potter's fate forever?
1. Fans and Secret Wishes

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.

**NOTE FROM AUTHOR**: Alright, like all authors, you improve your writing as time goes by. This is far truer for me than some. I'm afraid my first several chapters are not up to par to my most recent (such as ch. 20-24) but this being my first fan fiction ever; I'd appreciate if readers would please continue through it even if the first few chapters may lose your interest. In fact, there will be a time where I might even rewrite some of my first chapters completely! And actually, you may skip a few chapters if it's going to slow. If you skipped something important, you can always go back but it gets MUCH better like all stories. As the writer grows, so does the story so forgive me since I did start this...wow, more than a year ago (my, time flies) but I DOES get MUCH better and I have many plans for the characters in the future…wink.

Chapter one: Fans and Secret wishes

My mind wandered off as I sat with my friends during lunch. I was aware of the subject of conversation surrounding me, but my usual daydreaming had taken the better of me once again.

"…Caroline…Caroline?" I suddenly realized the majority of my friends were looking at me.

Snapping back to reality, I focused on them, making sure my mind wouldn't trail off again.

"Huh?" I asked. My friends rolled their eyes. They knew about my consistent daydreaming, so they repeated whatever they had said to me again.

"Who's better? Sirius or James?" They asked with a teasing in their eyes. I laughed.

My friends and I were all semi-obsessed with the brilliant books, Harry Potter, but lately, we had become very interested in Harry's parents, James and Lily. Their whole generation for that matter. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew…the whole lot.

Well, we knew the stories, so we didn't entirely admire Peter, but he was still part of the group. In fact, we found ourselves completely obsessed with the Marauders. Not only that, we found them extremely attractive! In more ways than one.

I remember telling someone this and they didn't understand since, I mean, the books are about HARRY POTTER (hence the name) so why bother about James? Or Lily? Or any of them! They're dead. I guess that's why they're interesting. We know so little about them.

But Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix came out in the summer and information on Lily and James exploded! Information on Sirius even exploded and we knew more about him than others.

Unfortunately, none of them were real. Just characters in a book. But, us all being the optimists we are, we made our own fantasy lives. Living among witches and wizards and dreaming of someday finding out Hogwarts was a real school.

As you can see, we are all nerds at heart.

"It's really pretty sad through." Nina said. "I mean, nearly all the Marauders are dead," she finished.

"Did it ever occur to you, that if Lily and James had changed one thing, or something happened differently, they could still be alive!" Camille interpreted.

I nodded in agreement. This was so entirely true, and it made me think about what they could have done and it drove me mad. Sometimes, I wished that I could get sucked into the fantasy life of the wizarding world and go back to the late seventies and early eighties and do something to help Lily and James and everyone.

That was my secret, but I could tell my other friends wished it too. But we were reality. We were the 21st century. There was no way that was going to happen anytime soon.

A/N: I hope you liked it. It's my first fanfic. It'll get better! I'm just starting out! In future chapters: Caroline and one of her friends will find themselves embarking on an "out-of-this-world" adventure.


	2. The Transportation

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.  
  
Chapter 2: The Transportation  
  
After school, I dropped my bag down on my bedroom floor and leapt onto my bed. Kelsey did the same. She had come over to work on homework and study for a tedious science final the next day. Adjusting herself into a crossed-legged position, she reluctantly opened her science notebook.  
"What's the formation of a rock.How was the periodic table first arranged... Name the 3 major types of rock." she read out from her review sheet. She sighed and rolled her eyes.  
"Who cares?" she said out loud, closing her notebook. Neither of us felt like studying. Then again, who ever did?  
"Don't do any of this crap at Hogwarts, eh?" she said, laughing. I laughed with her. "Too bad it isn't real,"  
"Ya know, that's probably the only school where'd I get something out of the lessons. I mean, who gives a crud about what rocks do. They're rocks!" I complained. Kelsey nodded in agreement. It seemed our conversations always ended up about the non-existent wizarding world.  
My DVDS were on the floor with my portable DVD player, and the first film on the stack was Harry Potter. Kelsey picked it up and scanned the movie stills on the back of the cover.  
"You ever wondered what Harry Potter's life would be like if his parents weren't killed?" she asked obliviously. She was looking at the small picture of Lily and James Potter in the Mirror of Erised.  
"Geez, I'd want them for parents!" I joked. Kelsey giggled.  
"Then you'd be close to Lupin and Sirius!" she said. "I wouldn't care if they were my parents, it would just be so fun to know them all! Ya know what I mean?!" she laughed. I smiled.  
"I wish they were all real.life would be so much more appealing to me," I sighed.  
"I know really," Kelsey agreed. "It would be so much fun. we could like, keep them from dying because we'd know what would happen in their life!" she dreamed.  
Suddenly, out of the blue, my bed jerked sideways in a wild manner. We were too surprised to scream. We jumped off quickly and watched, with awe. It shook back and forth and up and down, but strangely, it made no noise what-so-ever. Then, it stopped all together. We were speechless. Suddenly, Kelsey grabbed my arm. A green light was floating out from under the bed. I clamped my hand over my mouth and Kelsey's so neither of us could scream. The green light hovered towards us. We couldn't move at step. It swirled around us, slowly and gently. Slithering about like hundreds of snakes. It sent chills up my spine. It had a cool, breezy effect that seemed to relax my muscles. Kelsey's grip onto my arm loosened, as though the light was affecting her the same way. My breath became short and fast as it started to quicken, swirling faster and faster and faster! It slipped through our arms and legs, twirling us around. The light enveloped over us until we could no longer see my bedroom anymore. It felt like we were being lifted off the ground. All I could see was green, but I also heard voices. Vaguely at first, but then they grew louder. The voices didn't sound familiar, but what they were saying, did. I heard a bone-chilling cackle first, then a terrifying shriek. There were no words yet. I heard pleading, but I couldn't make out the words. Then I recognized something. I now heard a man's voice, I could see nothing, just hear it. I heard that cackle again, and then the words anyone who had read the third Harry Potter book knew.  
"Lily! It's him! Take Harry and go- I'll hold him off!" I strained to hear more, but it faded way. Then something else shot into my ears. Laughter. Joyous laughter you would hear at parties. There was more mumbling, and then it seemed what hundreds of voices all at once. I suddenly began to swirl slower and the voices dissolved away into the misty green light. I closed my eyes, praying it would stop. Then.  
THUMP!  
My feet landed on what I hoped were solid ground. The green light eventually disappeared. I quickly regained my sight and scanned my surroundings. Gladly, Kelsey was right beside me, rubbing her head as if she had a head ache.  
We were in a corridor. A large stone corridor with torch sconces and banners. I was so evolved into the building, wherever we were, I hardly heard Kelsey gasp. She touched my clothes weekly and rubbed the fabric between her fingers.  
"What the hell are you-"I stopped short. I had noticed her clothing too. We weren't in our jeans and shirts. We were in some sort of uniform. And a robe. My eyes focused on Kelsey's tie, which was tucked under her sweater vest. It was striped, gold and scarlet!  
"Oh my god." I managed in a whisper. "Are we-" Kelsey nodded in shock. Our jaws dropped as a ghost hovered by. Hogwarts. 


	3. Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.  
  
Chapter 3: Hogwarts  
  
"Holy crap," I said to myself as I touched the cold stone on the walls. It was as good as real, and nor I or Kelsey could scarcely believe it. I felt something suddenly bump against my leg. Reaching into my robe pocket, my traced my fingers over a smooth, thin stick. Pulling it out, I couldn't help but smile. I twirled it around in my fingers feeling it against my skin. A wand. Kelsey's hand plunged into her pocket and pulled out her wand as well.  
"Wow," she whispered in pure bewilderment.  
"So.this is really it?" I asked out loud. "This is Hogwarts." Kelsey smiled. It all seemed like a dream that we didn't want to wake up from.  
"Why are we here?" she pondered. I shook my head. I had no clue at all, but seriously I didn't care.  
"Who cares?! This is Hogwarts! Judging from our ties, we're Gryffindors. We'll worry about why later. Meanwhile, let's see where all the students are." I exclaimed. Letting out a sigh of confidence, Kelsey smiled.  
"Okay, let's go,"  
Hurrying down a corridor, I hoped we wouldn't get lost. Turning around another corner, we both realized we were getting nowhere.  
"We're lost!" Kelsey groaned in aggravation. I hushed her up quickly.  
"No we're not. I hear voices," I raced down another corridor, Kelsey on my heel. Swishing around a corner, I found myself in a large entry hall. It was filled with students. We scanned the crowd for Gryffindors. We needed them to guide us to the common room. We didn't even know the password. Kelsey stayed close by, nervously grasping my arm.  
"There!" I whispered nodding over to a girl with a gold and scarlet tie. Keeping her in the corner of our eye, we explored the crowd, tranced by the witches and wizards laughing and talking around us. They were our age, as normal as muggles but so much more! So talented and gifted. Suddenly, the crowd started to disappear. They were all headed down different hallways. Hurrying after the girl we had spotted, we were followed by who were probably Gryffindors.  
We all made our way; along with the others to a large painting with a fat woman wearing a pink gown greeted us.  
"Welcome back. Password?" she said in a low drawl of a voice. A boy who was at the head of the group answered.  
"Truffle Buddle," The painting nodded and swung open revealing the doorway.  
"Whoa." I heard Kelsey breathe out beside me. We both dipped our heads down and stepped into the Gryffindor common room.  
It was a magnificent place, decked out in scarlet drapes and easy chairs lined with gold. Several desks were scattered about the room, with a HUGE fireplace on the main wall. My stomach flipped with excitement. This was too cool! The boy who had answered the fat lady told everyone where their dormitories were and that our things had already been taken up there.  
  
"Things?" Kelsey whispered into my ear quietly. We were both 16, so we decided it was best for us to go with the 6th years. Clambering up the spiral staircase, all the 6th year girls went up to their dormitory. Coming in last, Kelsey and I looked around. There were two empty beds with trunks beside them; none of the girls were claiming them. Were those our beds?  
"Caroline!" I heard a voice squeal across the room. I inhaled and looked toward who had ever called my name. A girl with brown hair and icy blue eyes smiled at me.  
"It's SO good to see you! I was looking for you in the Great Hall, but I couldn't find you!" she exclaimed. I turned to Kelsey. She looked extremely confused, as was I, but I covered up my expression and smiled back.  
"I was looking for you too! I couldn't find you either! Nice to see you.again!" I stammered. After a few trying conversations with the girls, Kelsey and I eventually learned their names.  
The girl who had called my name was Alice.  
And then there was Kate, Cecily, Serena, Dora, and Kathleen.  
Later, Kelsey pulled me aside.  
"How did they know who we were?" she asked. It seemed as though we've going to Hogwarts for years. We even had our own wands and trunks and books. I shook my head.  
"I dunno. But let's go with the flow and enjoy ourselves, okay? Make sure you look like you know what to do and stuff." I answered. Kelsey nodded and stood up and sat on her bed as casually as possible. I did the same. We listened to the other's talk and tried to jump into the conversation as much as we could. Kelsey noticed an empty bed and politely interrupted.  
"Where's..." she began. She didn't know who was missing, so she waited for the other's to figure it out.  
"Lily's a prefect, so she's probably at the meeting right now. You knew that." Cecily told us.  
My eyebrows rose. I glanced at Kelsey through the corner of my eye. Her brow was furrowed as if she didn't quite get what Cecily said.  
"Lily?" we said in unison. The way we had said it must have sounded like we had never heard the name before, so I quickly added. "Of course! Duh!! She's great at everything! She deserves to be a prefect!" The girls laughed and smiled.  
"I know really!" Dora exclaimed. "I bet she'll be Head girl next year. It'll be so great! LILY EVANS: HEAD GIRL!" I kept myself from gaping. I glanced at the magical calendar on the wall:  
SEPTEMBER, FALL 1976  
  
Kelsey looked at it too. I saw her jaw drop a bit and then we looked at each other with excitement. If Lily was here, then that meant.


	4. Lily

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.  
  
A/N: Hey ya'll! I'm trying to make the chapters longer. I know how it feels to finish a chapter in like, 2 seconds and I'm still working on it. Sorry! Keep reading though! It gets better! :-D  
  
Chapter 4: Lily  
Kelsey and I took a deep breath. Realizing we were in the "Marauders Era" (as we called it); it flipped our stomachs to think that we would be living, so to speak, with them! We knew a lot about them, although we didn't necessarily know if all our information was true. But it would make the adaptation to Hogwarts (until we figured out how to get back to 2003) much more enjoyable, easier, and exciting. I decided to take a fun risk and ask the others about James Potter or Sirius, Remus or whatever, but before I could speak, we heard hard stomping up the staircase. Kathleen put her hand up to hush us and we watched at the iron handle on the door slam down for it to open. And in stormed a disgruntled girl with thick, dark red hair that hung smoothly to her shoulders. I swallowed in my excitement, and felt Kelsey hit me slightly telling me that she knew too. The girl turned around to reveal bright green eyes, just like Harry's. Her brow was creased in the middle from some sort of agitation. She let out an aggravated groan and slumped the floor beside Kelsey. Kelsey stiffened slightly and glanced at me with an expression of anticipation. I kept my breath even, but dared myself to talk.  
"Something wrong, Lily?" I asked as calmly as possible. Lily scoffed and smiled weakly at me as though she'd known me for ages.  
"Yeah. The great prat just had to be down in the common room," she moaned, rubbing her temples. I blinked largely. I noticed Kelsey's eyebrows shoot up and a slight smile form, right until she bit her lip to keep it in.  
"Well, what do you expect?" Serena said. "Probably setting up some oh- so-clever booby trap for everyone to fall into tomorrow morning," We chuckled because she was probably right. Kelsey and I knew instantly they were talking about James Potter.  
"What'd he do this time?" Kate asked. Lily lolled her head to the side momentarily before speaking.  
"He asked me how my summer went," she began, rolling her eyes. That's not so incredibly bad. I thought to myself, but Lily wasn't finished.  
"Then he said Remus was a prefect too, but no shit. Then of course, he messed up his hair and just said the most annoying pick-up lines and stuff! He just went on and on! I can't remember half of them," she continued in a pained voice. Cecily laughed.  
"It's so pathetic! Couldn't he bother some other girl? There are plenty of other girls here who would WANT him to pester them!" she exclaimed. Dora nodded in agreement.  
"Ya know?" I started. I was becoming a lot more relaxed. "He wouldn't be so bad, if he deflated his head a bit, decided it was best that snitches are for Quidditch and not for throwing around, and stopped cursing people for fun," The others laughed, including Lily. Kathleen leaned back on her elbows.  
"Well, it's a new year, the whole lot of them are older, maybe other the next few months, things will change. In a mature kind of way," she said reasonably. I grinned. So did Kelsey. They know so little.  
"Well, that meeting made me tired." Lily said, yawning. "I'm off to bed. See you all tomorrow at breakfast,"  
After all the good night giggles and whispers, we changed and climbed into our four-poster beds for the first night at Hogwarts. I hate never slept in a four-poster bed before, let alone at Hogwarts. For a boarding school, the beds were VERY comfortable! After I made sure that Lily, Dora, Serena, Cecily, Kathleen and Kate we asleep, I crept across the room and sat on the corner of Kelsey's bed. She was awake too.  
"This is fun," I heard her whisper to me. I nodded, smiling in the dark. I sat there for another minute, not knowing that Kelsey had drifted off to sleep. Tiptoeing back to my own bed, I curled but under the crimson comforter and cream sheets. I smiled to myself, before my eyes closed on my and I slept. **********************  
  
The next morning I woke up to Kelsey shaking me.  
"Get up! It's the first day of Hogwarts!" she said giggling. I turned my head toward the other beds. Dora, Serena, and Lily were already dressed and packing their book bags. Cecily and Kathleen were getting dressed and Kate was still waking up, like me. I was up rather quickly, from the excitement of going to Hogwarts classes. All of us had decided to go down to breakfast together as a group. We walked briskly, gossiping as we went. I learned many things about other students that I found rather amusing. Gilderoy Lockhart almost blew up Professor McGonnagal after seeing her in her cat form, thinking it was a huge monster. This make Kelsey laughed hysterically since we had read The Chamber of Secrets. We were talking about so many things and I wasn't looking where I was going. Suddenly,  
SMACK!  
I had run right into somebody. I tumbled to the floor with a small yelp. Brushing my hair out of my eyes, I noticed a hand extend down in front of me. I grabbed it as it pulled me up.  
"Sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was goin-"I said glancing up at who ever it was. I stopped short. My breath failed. I heard Kelsey make a small gasp and Lily make a soft groan. I had run into Sirius Black. James, Remus, and Peter we there too. 


	5. The Marauders

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.  
  
Chapter 5: The Marauders  
  
I blushed tremendously as the whole lot of them grinned at us.  
"Sorry 'bout that, Sirius," I said, trying not to look at him from embarrassment. I glanced behind me. Kelsey was biting her lip to keep from gaping. Lily gave me a make-this-quick-so-I-don't-have-to-deal-with-him look. The other's looked unfazed.  
"S'alright, Caroline," Sirius said grinning. I gulped and exhaled to keep from swooning. I had only read that small part in the fifth Harry Potter book, but it was true. He was EXTREMELY good-looking. Definity not like he looked after Azkaban. (A/N: no duh!) I glanced beside him.  
"Hey James," I said shyly. He grinned and nodded his head in acknowledgement. I noticed him glancing at Lily every now and then, almost making me laugh. I turned to Lupin.  
"Hi Remus," I said. He smiled back at me.  
"Hey," he said simply. I couldn't help but glance at Kelsey. She had straightened up and raised her chin a bit. It was so funny! I then glanced at Peter. My spine stiffened. He looked so pathetic and harmless. I was shocked that he would actually end up becoming a follower of Voldemort. It made me sick, looking at him while Lily and James were right there. I tried to smile.  
"Peter." I said icily. I looked back at the others. Remembering Lily's expression, I looked back at James, Sirius and Remus.  
"Well, see you all later," I said quickly and pushed around them, the rest of the girls behind me.  
There were a few scattered goodbyes, but very strangely, no sort of sound from James to Lily. Lily looked shocked as well.  
"God, that was awkward," I let out once the guys were out of ear- shot. I looked at Lily. "Lily, did you see that? He didn't say one thing to you!"  
She shook her head in disbelief.  
"I know! It was the strangest thing!" she exclaimed. Kathleen giggled.  
"Like I said, maybe he's changing." She said in a sing songy voice. Kelsey looked at me. I grinned. They have no idea.  
James and the gang were just as I imagined them! James looked SO much like Harry. More than I thought! Kelsey and I both agreed that Remus was much more attractive than we thought. And Sirius was an all-around ladies man. You could tell by the way he looked at all of us. What scared me the most was that they were real! My friends back in'03 and I would just imagine them, but now they were close enough to touch. (A/N: Don't get the wrong idea, ppl!) I assumed Kelsey felt the same way because she had this bemused grin on her face. I elbowed her and cocked an eyebrow behind me in the direction of the Marauders. She grinned sheepishly and gave me a dreamy look. I laughed inside, just as we walked into the Great Hall.  
James, Remus, Sirius and Peter walked down a corridor. They had already eaten breakfast and were going back to the common room to get extra books they needed for class. James was pretty much silent most of the way. The others noticed this, but didn't say anything. When it had become too quiet for too long, Sirius spoke up.  
"Somethin' happened back there, mate. Even the girls were shocked that you didn't say ONE WORD to Evans. I could tell," Sirius said slyly. James shrugged.  
"Didn't have the energy, I guess." He said. Sirius arched his eyebrow at him. He glanced at Remus and Peter. They both shrugged. Sirius studied James for a moment. He didn't necessarily believe James' excuse.  
**********  
I had the most AMAZING breakfast in the Great Hall. It was amazing anyways being in this MASSIVE room that I had seen in all the movies, but what I enjoyed the most was the pumpkin juice! That's like, all they drink in the books and reading them all, I've always wondered, "How do you make PUMPKIN juice?" and "Is it any good?" Lemme say something. It is the most incredible drink I had ever tasted!!! Oh my gosh, I'll never want to drink a soda again! Seriously, I thought egg nog was good, pumpkin juice, you can't compete with. I had 3 goblets full!  
After breakfast, most everyone were departing from the Great Hall, so all us girls flung our book bags over our shoulders and made way to our first class of Hogwarts.  
DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS  
I squeezed into a seat next to Kelsey. I spotted James a few seats ahead of me, Sirius was behind him, and Remus was in front of me, which obviously made Kelsey flip. The other house that shares our class with the Gryffindors was Slytherin. Kelsey noticed too and we were both immediately started searching the heads for whom else? Bellatrix Black and Severus Snape. Kelsey found Snape instantly. She found the first guy with greasy hair and it was him. I finally found Bellatrix. She was laughing evilly with a group of Slytherin girls. He had long wavy, sleek black hair and fathomless black eyes. Much like Sirius's. She was very pretty, but she had that evil stepmother look. It disgusted me, but I turned away when Professor Whipple (A/N:-P) called the class to order.  
"Alright class! Welcome back to Hogwarts! Today we will be discussing illegal curses. Now, raise you hand if you can name one,"  
I remembered that Harry had this discussion in this fourth year with Moody, so I hesitantly raised my hand. Kelsey looked at me as if I was mad, but I blocked it out. Professor Whipple nodded her head to me.  
"Yes, Miss Lefave?" Oh god. I thought to myself. She knew my last name, but then again, everyone seemed to know my name, so that didn't faze me. I swallowed nervously as heads turned to look at me. I answered quickly.  
"Erm. the Cruciatus Curse. It causes immense pain," I said. Kelsey looked impressed. She probably didn't remember that. Professor Whipple smiled and nodded.  
"Well done, Miss Lefave. Three points for Gryffindor!" There were a few quiet cheers and thank-you's here and there that made me feel very, very good.  
"Okay, can anyone name another one?" Professor Whipple started again. To my excitement, James hand went into the air.  
"Yes, Potter?"  
"Avada Kavadra. The Killing Curse," he answered. My eyes widened. It was the first time I had ever heard his voice, and it was fun to listen too.  
"Good job, Potter. Another three points! Yes, the Killing Curse. You can never survive it and no one ever has. Probably no one will," said Professor Whipple.  
My eyebrows shot up. It pained me to hear James mention Avada Kavadra when he was killed by it himself even though he didn't know yet. And Harry would be the only one to survive the curse and they don't know that either. Only Kelsey and I. Kelsey elbowed me. She must have been thinking about the same thing.  
Through out the class, I noticed James glance at Lily a few times and it felt so great to be able to be here during the time they got together. But I realized something from before. After we had encountered the Marauders in the hallway, Lily had this look that said "Why didn't he say anything?" like she half WANTED him to badger her. There was definitely and unspoken attraction and I wasn't going to sit around and wait.  
After Professor Whipple dismissed us, I waited until Sirius was alone and I went up to him. Kelsey beside me.  
"Sirius!" I called not-so-loudly. He turned to me and furrowed his eyebrows waiting for me to catch up. Once I was in front of him, I asked.  
"Did notice at breakfast in the hallway that James said NOTHING to Lily?" Sirius widened his eyes as if he agreed.  
"You noticed too?! I was completely shocked. He's never passed her without saying SOMETHING," he said in a VERY handsome kind of way. "I asked him after you all had left and he said he just didn't have the energy," I scoffed.  
"No energy! He has enough energy to tame a dragon!" I exclaimed. Kelsey nodded in agreement. I then expressed my thoughts to Sirius on the matter.  
"Ya know, after you guys had left, Lily had this look on her face as though she half wanted him to badger her and when he didn't, she looked DISSAPOINTED," I said. Sirius crossed his arms.  
"What do you think's up?" he asked. I squinted my eyes a bit before answering.  
"There is plainly an unspoken attraction that needs to come out of the closet. I see it, Kelsey sees it." I nodded my head over to Kelsey. "I personally see SO much potential between them, that they would be PERFECT together."  
Sirius nodded and grinned.  
"I see it. So what do we do?" he said. Kelsey spoke up this time.  
"We have to get them together. It'll be tough, but uh." she looked at me. "I see them together and that's where they belong." Sirius nodded.  
"I'm game. Where do we start?" 


	6. A Black Heart and Hogsmeade

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.  
  
Chapter 6: A Black Heart and Hogsmeade  
  
---A few weeks later-  
  
Kelsey and I decided to postpone the Lily/James Project since our first attempt, with the help of Sirius and Remus (which Kelsey enjoyed tremendously) went completely out of hand. Instead of Lily seeing James in a different light, she saw him seeing no light! She tried to physically hurt him after she became so appalled by the fifth pick-up line. Sirius had to physically restrain them before they both got black eyes. That's when we all decided it was best to call it all off until the opportune moment. Fortunately, we all soon forgot about the accident and focused our attention to the upcoming Hogsmeade trip. Dumbledore had announced all who were going during lunch and to me and Kelsey's surprise and confusion, we were both on the list. Dora, Kate, Kathleen, Cecily, Alice, Lily and us agreed to all go together.  
The day of Hogsmeade was bright and cheerful, giving everyone a happy mood. We all rushed into a carriage that we could have to ourselves.  
"We have to go to the Three Broomsticks first!" exclaimed Cecily. "I've been craving a keg of butterbeer for like, ever!"  
I laughed.  
"I've forgotten what it tasted like!" I said in excitement.  
Of course, I had never had it before but I was just as curious about it as I was of pumpkin juice.  
"This is a bit random actually, but I never had the change to ask you, Lily." Kelsey said to Lily. "How was your summer?"  
Lily groaned inwardly.  
"I had to meet my sister Petunia's horrible, fat, ugly boyfriend Vernon,"  
"Dursley?" Kelsey asked on accident. Lily furrowed her brow.  
"Well, a matter a fact, yes. Vernon Dursley. How'd you know?" Kelsey scolded herself quietly and laughed innocently.  
"Lucky guess," Lily shrugged and continued.  
"Well, he was absolutely appalling! Obnoxious and rude! Petunia ADORES him and was raving all summer on how she was convinced that he was going to propose to her soon!" She leaned back against the ruby seats and sighed.  
"There would be a good side to her marrying that god forsaken walrus. She'd move out of the house and never bother and insult me again!"  
"Good point," Kate agreed. We all nodded in unison. Dora looked out the carriage window.  
"Guys! We're here!" she screamed with glee. When the carriage eventually came to a stop on the cobblestone streets, Alice flung the door open and we all streamed out of the cramped carriage. I stood in awe, intrigued by the bustling streets, filled with arriving Hogwarts students. I found Zonko's and Honeydukes and then noticed the Three Broomsticks. Kelsey had already found it.  
"C'mon ya'll!" she yelled, yanking my arm as I grasped for Lily's as she grabbed Dora's until we all were running along, laughing in a chain formation. Squeezing into the small door of the Three Broomsticks, we rushed for the biggest table that would fit all of us. Cecily came back after a couple trips with all our kegs of butterbeer. Raising our glasses, we toasted.  
"To a new and better year!" Kate exclaimed. "Cheers!" she said in unison, clunking our glasses together. I leaned my head back and took a huge gulp. It was a buttery, gingery, creamy sensation. Nothing like I had ever tasted! Pumpkin juice now had a new competition. Egg Nog was out of the race.  
After two more kegs full of butterbeer, I leaned back on two legs of my chair for a moment before landing back down again. The whole twenty minutes in the Three Broomsticks passed by so blissfully, I hardly wanted to go back to Hogwarts. The whole lot of us talked about EVERYTHING from Muggles (apparently, Kelsey and I were muggleborns, which wasn't a problem) to the Wizarding world, to classes, to Quiddich. I had never had so much fun in my life. I checked my watch nonchalantly. Oh Man, I thought. We all had to get back to the carriages in twenty minutes. I broke into the conversation.  
"Hey guys, we only have twenty minutes left until we have to get back to the carriages. If we want to get to Honeydukes, we'd better leave now." I said. The other's checked their watches, surprised how the time had flown by.  
"Agreed," Kate said. We all got up and pushed our chairs in, then walked out the door. We started to jabber all at once about funny little life stories, when Kelsey let out a yelp in pain.  
"OW!" she screamed, stopping in her tracks. We then all stopped and walked back toward her.  
"Something pinched me really, friggin' hard," she winced. It was true. She had a small white and blotchy mark on her arm where you could make out two nail imprints.  
"That's what you get, mudblood, for bumping into me." Came a high- pitched voice from behind us. Oh my god. I thought as I turned around. The others had gasped quietly and turned around as well. There, standing in a sluttish, cocky sort of way, was Bellatrix.  
"I personally think you got what you deserved." She said coldly, checking her nails. I sucked in my cheeks with rage.  
"What do you want, Black?" I said icily. I then expanded my self- confidence. Why should I be afraid of her? I decided to play around with her mind a bit.  
"Ya know, Bellatrix, your last name fits you perfectly. It goes great with your black heart." I dissed evilly. The other girls snickered and made dissing noises behind me. Bellatrix's lips pressed together has her dark eyes squinted devilishly. Her hand lingered toward her robe pocket.  
"You gonna try anything, Black? In front of all these people? I'll be laughing when I see you being driven home; expelled!" I teased again. Bellatrix shook in pure rage.  
"Oh.mudblood.I'd watch what you're saying if I were you. You get what you deserve personally from me." She screeched in a whisper. She twirled her wand in her fingers and cackled quietly. I stood my ground, slowly reaching for my wand.  
"But, mudbloods, I can't wait that long. You cost me a lot and you're gonna pay NOW!!!" she shrieked. We all screamed. We turned around and dashed down the crowded streets. I could feel the thumping of Bellatrix's shoes bounding after us.  
"Now you did it, Caroline! You can't threaten her!" Kelsey yelled in pure fright. I was scared too. We ran faster, but we could still hear Bellatrix behind us. Turning around the corner, we kept running, screaming randomly as we zoomed down the streets. I looked behind me and gasped. Bellatrix was gaining on us! Before I could look back to where I was going, I smashed right into somebody. Kelsey, Lily and the others yelped as they tried to skid to a stop before running into who was before us. Before I could stumble to the ground in shock, whoever I had run into told hold of my arm to keep me stable. He had grabbed Lily's arm also, to keep her from falling. Catching my breath, I looked up into the face of James Potter. Kelsey and Kate had been caught by Remus and the others caught by Sirius and Peter. We all let out a sigh of relief, actually glad to see them. I jerked my head around in fright to see Bellatrix skid to a stop behind us. Lily let out a gasp of terror. James and Sirius were the first to notice her panting in front of them. The Marauders pushed us behind them, and then drew their wands. We all glanced at each other, apprehensive at what was going to happen next. I stood on my tiptoes and watched over James' shoulder. Why'd he have to be so tall? I thought in frustration. I glanced at his profile. He had an extremely good poker face on and his chest was heaving in and out slowly in deep breaths. He blew the hair out of his face, before pointing his wand at Bellatrix, who was smiling menacingly.  
"Sirius Black." She spat in disgust. "I was just trying to get your disgraceful mudblood friends to pay for something they owed me." Lily and I charged in pure rage, making it through the barrier of the Marauders, but caught on the arms by Sirius and James.  
"Like hell we did!" Lily screamed in anger, her green eyes flashing. Her hair blew across her face, as did my own.  
"WE OWE YOU NOTHING, BLACK!" I cursed with madness! I slipped my arm out of Sirius' grip, but he grabbed my other arm, trying to pull me back. James gripped Lily's shoulders, but Lily kicked forward. Bellatrix watched in amusement.  
"Lefave! Evans! Leave her to us!" Sirius bellowed not as harshly as he meant it to be. I turned my head to him, eyes burning. I looked at Kelsey, who was watching over Remus' shoulder in shock at me and Lily's behavior. Lily and I quieted down, but we stayed in front of Sirius and James, tension rising.  
"I haven't seen you much around Grimmauld, dear cousin. You must be hangin' around the Potters as usual. I must say, they would be the last family that I'd recommend anyone to stay with." Bellatrix said coolly. This time, James charged forward, but was restrained by Remus and Sirius. Bellatrix shook her head in mock pity.  
"Such a temper. Must run the family," she hissed. She cackled at her own humor. Sirius sucked in a breath of anger, still half-trying to keep James from attacking Bellatrix. This time, Kelsey raced forward, but Remus caught her with his other free hand.  
"YOU MOCK THE NAME POTTER NOW, BLACK! BUT YOU WAIT! YEARS FROM NOW, YOU WAIT!" Kelsey shrieked angrily. I was shocked by Kelsey's outburst, but I was to mad to care. James was taken aback about this since he had no clue about his own son, but I nodded my head furiously. Wait until she encounters Harry Potter!  
"ALL HOGWARTS STUDENTS PLEASE MAKE THEIR WAY BACK TO THE CARRAIGES NOW! ALL HOGWARTS STUDENTS!" Came a booming voice on what seemed to be like an intercom. Bellatrix smiled menacingly.  
"Whoop! Time to go. See ya around, mudbloods," she said with an evil elegance. She spat close to Lily's feet, then turned on her heel and strutted down the cobblestone street, leaving us enraged, struggling in each other's grasp.  
  
A/N: Ooooo! I really liked that chapter! I thought it was great. You can tell here that James is truly protective over Lily, but she has her own mind. I'll update ASAP! 


	7. Apologies and Chemistry

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.  
  
Chapter 7: Apologies and Chemistry  
  
I wrenched out of Sirius' grasp, panting furiously. James let go of Lily, as Remus did the same to Kelsey. I ran a hand through my long, brown hair in aggravation. I sucked in an angry breath, trying to keep from bursting out in screams. I whirled around furiously to face the others.  
"Why did you hold me back?!" I roared at Sirius, eyes burning with rage. Lily was mad as well.  
"Dammit! I would have killed her! I've been called a mudblood one to many times! Don't get me started, Black!" Lily yelled furiously. Sirius stepped forward angrily.  
"Then what, Evans?! Get expelled?! Do you actually think that I wouldn't have cursed her too?! You're not related to her, you don't understand!" he yelled back. Kelsey rushed beside me.  
"EXPELLED?! Since when have ya'll been afraid of being expelled?! Everything to do you could be expelled for!" she shouted. Remus nodded in agreement.  
"She's right, ya know," he said. Kelsey nearly fell to the ground from swooning, but regained her self. Sirius glared at us, but being the cutie he was, he gave in.  
"You're right, you're right." He said quietly. James nodded and sagged his shoulders.  
"We'd better get out of here before we're left behind," he suggested. I turned on my heel and stormed away, Lily and the others in my wake.  
  
Sirius rubbed his forehead as he walked down the street with James, Remus and Peter.  
"That was a disaster," he moaned. James scoffed.  
"'Could have been worse, mate. At least Bellatrix didn't do anything serious." Sirius nodded.  
"Man, those girls were really going at Bellatrix! I'm surprised no one around us seemed fazed by it! I mean, Kelsey was screaming at the top of her lungs!" Remus exclaimed. James furrowed his brow.  
"Do you remember what she said? Lefave agreed with her, but I had no idea what they were talking about," he shrugged it off.  
"Man, Evans was yelling too! That was crazy!" Sirius added. "Those girls are spit-fires. They don't take crap from people. Even Bellatrix," James' mouth twitched ever so slightly, but then started to walk faster before they all missed their carriage. They jumped in at the very last minute, right before the driver got it moving.  
  
There was a tense silence in our carriage the rest of the way back to Hogwarts. Lily and Kelsey were staring out the window with contorted expressions on their faces. I sat, looking down at my lap, not wanting to look at the others, who were watching us awkwardly. I had been thinking about the Marauders after Bellatrix had left, and I regretted yelling at Sirius and taking out my anger on James and the others. I understood that if Sirius did anything, he would be in so much trouble with the family he despised. I knew that! Why was I so harsh?! I scolded myself. Back at the castle, we had the rest of the day off, so I sat on Kelsey's bed with her, doing homework. Neither I nor Kelsey could concentrate after the incident in Hogsmeade. We knew that Bellatrix wasn't gonna leave it alone and she'd be after all of us again, but I felt more and more bad for the Marauders, who were only trying to keep us out of trouble and we threw it back in their faces. I stopped writing my Transfiguration essay and tapped my quill on Kelsey's parchment to get her attention. "What?" she asked. I sighed deeply. "We need to apologize to the guys. We were so horrible to them just because we were angry at Bellatrix. It wasn't their fault. They were just being their oh-so-cool selves and trying to help." I proposed. Kelsey grimaced at her own selfishness and nodded.  
"You're right. Let's go. Where are they?" I nodded toward the girls' dormitory door.  
"I saw them in the common room five minutes ago," I replied.  
  
We crept down the stone staircase as quietly as possible. Kelsey pointed to the large table by the side of the wall. The Marauders were sitting their casually doing homework and practicing Transfiguration (which they of course excelled in) spells. Kelsey and I took a deep, relaxing breath, and then approached to the table.  
"Hey guys?" I said, getting their attention. They looked up at us, waiting to see what we were gonna say. I pulled out an empty chair across from them as I continued.  
"We, um, we both wanted to apologize for the way we-we both acted at Hogsmeade," I said. Kelsey sat down in another chair beside me. Sirius, James and Remus were slightly taken aback by this, but Peter just look confused and dumb, as always. James started to protest.  
"You don't have to apol-"he said, but Kelsey cut him off.  
"No, really. We were such arses back there, and I-we both understand that we couldn't really do anything in a public place," she explained. The guys nodded, glad that we understood that. I jumped in.  
"But, seriously, I think that Bellatrix will be back. So, we're freaked out for Lily and us, since we're muggleborns," I said, eyeing James suspiciously. James twitched his mouth again. This is ridiculous! I thought.  
"James, come here," I said coolly. He looked confused, but leaned closer. I then took my thumb and index finger and flicked his forehead.  
"OW! What the hell was that for?!" he yelled. I rolled my eyes.  
"You are such a huge idiot!" I hissed. Sirius smirked, looking rather impressed. James jerked his head back in shock.  
"You can't just PRETEND you don't care about her, man!" I said loudly. James looked nervously around the room, before focusing back to me.  
"What are you talking about?!" he whispered harshly. I cocked an eyebrow at him.  
"Don't give me that James, you know exactly who I'm talking about," I said, grinning. James blushed, Sirius winked at me, Kelsey and Remus.  
"I-I don't pretend, Lefave, she just hates-"he stammered, but I put my hand up to stop him.  
"That's just it! Her name isn't EVANS, James. It's LILY! It's called respect! My name isn't LEFAVE, its Caroline! And Sirius! His name isn't Black! He isn't Black, he's SIRIUS! Even though I know you don't call him that. And Kelsey, she HATES her last name, you can't-"I went on, but James threw his hands up.  
"OKAY! Okay, you found oil, Caroline, stop drilling! So, what are you playing at?" he said deviously. I raised my eyebrows.  
"Well, you can't really do much right now, but you'll be seeing much more of her in the next year." I explained. They would both be Head Boy and Girl next year, even though they didn't know that yet. "But, really, James. Get your act together! You're a very, very smart guy, but you know that too much! You're so arrogant and conceited sometimes, that's why she hates you! First and foremost, you really can't hex people in the hallways when you're bored. And, you have to be nice to her. You are a fantastic, loyal, compassionate person; you just have to show her that you care. Okay?" I finished. I looked back at the others. They're eyebrows were raised high, amazed on how much I knew.  
"Okay." James managed. I felt satisfied, so I changed the subject.  
"So, guys, how's Quiddich going?" I asked eagerly. Kelsey leaned forward to listen too. We were both extremely interested about Quiddich and the upcoming season. No one gave a warning, but once you get talking about Quiddich with James and Sirius, it goes overboard. I tried to follow it all, but it was really difficult. I tried to get a word in, but I couldn't. Remus shook his head.  
"Caroline, don't try," he said. Kelsey and I laughed.  
FINALLY, after at least 10 minutes, the conversation died down, and Kelsey and I went down to dinner them so we could meet up with the other girls who were in the library. I realized walking down to the Great Hall, that Kelsey and Remus talked the whole way! I saw TONS of chemistry and I could tell he liked her, and I knew that she liked him. I smiled to myself. We turned into the Great Hall, where we found Dora, Lily and the others. We waved and departed from the Marauders.  
"So?!" I asked Kelsey excitedly, winking at her. "What did ya'll talk about?!" Kelsey turned bright red and smiled sheepishly. I squealed and squeezed her around the neck.  
"I knew you two had potential! Yay!" I exclaimed. Kelsey blushed.  
"So what about me? Anyone in this massive hall that I have potential with?" I asked, grinning. Kelsey looked around, and then turned back to me.  
  
"Well, since you obviously can't have James, because Lily is so perfect with him, I'd say Sirius Black."  
"Excuse me? I have potential with Sirius Black?" I said, shocked. Kelsey cocked an eyebrow at me. I shrugged, smiling.  
"Hey, I don't hate it," I joked. Kelsey laughed just as we greeted the others.  
  
A/N: EEE!!! You'll see some Kelsey/Remus in the future and stay tuned for some "sirius" dueling. ;-) 


	8. Triumphant Dueling vs Disastrous Dueling

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.  
  
Chapter 8: Triumphant Dueling vs. Disastrous Dueling  
  
Kelsey and I emerged from the Great Hall after dinner with the others, skirts uncomfortably too tight. I had "accidentally" let slip that I thought Remus and Kelsey should get together which erupted into hundreds of questions for the already overly embarrassed Kelsey. We had all made a plan to set the two up, but it was still shaky, so we decided to discuss it during study hall later that week.  
We chatted all the way into the common room, but stopped when we noticed several students huddling around the massive bulletin board. I furrowed my brow.  
"What is it?" I asked my friends. They shrugged, so we made our way through the crowd, until we could clearly see what it said.  
DUELING CLUB  
Any students interested, please go to the Great Hall tomorrow at 7:00  
  
"Dueling!" Cecily exclaimed with excitement! "That is so cool! We should all totally go!" We all nodded enthusiastically and agreed to meet in the Great Hall tomorrow at 7.  
After pestering Kelsey about Remus for another half hour, we all went to bed with excitement of the next day.  
  
The next day, everyone was restless about the upcoming dueling lesson. Kelsey and I remembered Harry did it in his second year, so we were both extremely excited.  
7:00 came much quicker than we had expected and Kelsey and I rushed into the Great Hall at 7:03. The four tables were gone and down the center was a long, royal blue platform. Professor Whipple, our Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, stood on top of it, waiting for all the students to quiet down.  
"Caroline! Kelsey! Over here!" I heard Kate call to us. We found them at the very front, standing with the Marauders. Squeezing between Kate and Lily, Kelsey and I waited for Professor Whipple to begin.  
"Now, students, many of you are well aware of what dueling is. But for you younger ones, let me explain," Whipple began.  
"Dueling is using your expertise on spells to overcome or defeat another. Erm, much like fighting," she explained.  
"I'll now pick two students to demonstrate first." She twirled her wand over the students. Suddenly, she pointed her wand at me. Oh my god, I thought to myself. Alice squealed in excitement. I noticed people straining their necks to see who Whipple had chosen. Remus elbowed me.  
"Go!" James encouraged. I wasn't sure. Kelsey pushed me forward.  
"Come on, Caroline! You always told me you loved to fence, right? That's like dueling! Sort of. Go!" she exclaimed. I gave in and made my way up onto the stage.  
"Excellent! Now, we need a challenger!" Whipple twirled her wand over the crowd again, landing on someone I couldn't make out. "Mr. Black, you! Come on up here!" Whipple proclaimed. My mouth dropped open in shock, and all my friends, marauders included, are in a state of shock as well as Sirius jumped onto the stage. I heard a 5th year Ravenclaw comment," She'll never beat him! He's too good at everything,"  
I glanced at the girls and the Marauder's quickly. They all had expressions of anticipation that gave me a surge of confidence that maybe I could beat Sirius. I looked at him. He gave me a lopsided grin, before drawing his wand.  
"Alright you two. To the center and salute each other." Whipple instructed. Sirius and I stood facing each other and saluted.  
"Are you ready for this?" he said haughtily. I smirk momentarily and raise my eyebrows.  
"Are you? Let's do this," I said grinning, then turned around and walked back to my place and then stood in position, my wand drawn. The Hall was completely silent in anticipation.  
"On my whistle, send a spell as quick as you can. I'll judge. When I think one of you is defeated, I'll blow my whistle again." Whipple explained. Here goes, I thought just in time Whipple screeched into the whistle.  
"RICTUSEMPRA!" I shouted much more quickly then I expected and surprisingly quicker than Sirius. He suddenly flipped upside down and flew backwards threw the air. After a quiet moment, Sirius got to his feet.  
Grabbing his wand he had dropped while being thrown backwards, he sped into position and very quickly shouted a spell back at me.  
"TARANTALLEGRA!" he yells. My legs flew out from under me and I landed onto my back. Kelsey winced from the side lines.  
I leapt to my feet as fast as I could and sent my next spell.  
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Sirius' wand shot from his hand and flew through the air, across the platform, where I caught it in my hand. I smiled to myself. Now, Sirius had no weapon.  
He advanced on me, trying to get his wand back, but I scream quickly," LEGEREO!" Sirius jolted into the air and hurtled, fast back to his place on the other side, dropping hard on to the stage on his back, still, with no weapon. I then heard Professor Whipple blow her whistle.  
Next thing I knew there were lots of hands clapping and cheers and I smile to myself in a pretty arrogant way, but I walked over to Sirius who is still lying pathetically on his back. I lean over and grin deviously. "You do realize, that the 'Almighty Sirius Black' just lost to a girl," I dropped his wand beside him and offered him a hand. He rolled his grayish- blue eyes and got up, picking up his wand. "This isn't over," he threatens playfully. I cock an eyebrow at him and grin. "We shall see" I add to the joke, and then turn on my heel and lean over to talk to Kelsey and the others over the side.  
"Looks like we have a new winner! Is there anyone in here that would like to challenge Miss Lefave, here?!" Whipple exclaims. Everyone started looking around at each other, hoping to catch someone who would challenge me. Then there came a voice from somewhere in the front row. "I will, Professor." The voice is familiar. I was talking to the Marauders when I heard this and my blood ran cold. The proud expression on my face disappeared. "Ah! Good! Come on up here, Bellatrix!" Whipple exclaimed. There was a strange, frightful silence in the Hall. Slowly, I stood up. The Marauders (more so James and Sirius) had sucked in their breath in some sort of predicted anger. As I walk to my place, Cecily grabbed my leg. "Watch what you're doing, she's tricky!" she said fearfully. The other's looked at me in horror. There were a few more "be careful" comments, not making me feel much better that I was about to duel Bellatrix Black. "Alright, salute each other RESPECTFULLY!" Whipple said. She obviously didn't like Bellatrix much either. Bellatrix and I stopped in front of each other. I held my chin up a bit to show her I wasn't afraid. She grinned menacingly at me. "I'd be scared if I were you, mudblood," she hissed. I twitched, but stood firm. "You can only wish," I hissed right back. I saluted aggressively and pivoted around and marched back to my place, then stood in position as I waited for Professor Whipple's whistle.  
"I must remind both of you, nothing rash or dangerous. On my whistle, then." Whipple proclaimed. Then, the shrill sound from the whistle split through the silent air. "TARANTALLEGRA!" I screamed. Bellatrix was thrown into the air with a shocked yelp, flipping over and over until landing on her stomach. No once winced except her best friend Elizabeth and her posse, who squealed in horror. Bellatrix was on her feet in a split second, wand raised. It was too quick for me to react. "RICTUSEMPRA!!!" she shrieked. I was catapulted at least five feet into the air. There were a few scattered gasps as I fell to the floor. Bellatrix looked quite haughty and egocentric and I wasn't going to live with that. Wobbling to my feet, I shouted my spell. "IACULO!" I screamed. Bellatrix shot into the air and started to spin around faster and faster. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, which was incredibly unnecessary. People were covering their ears, so I finally decided to let her down. "ADFLIGO!!" I yelled. Bellatrix abruptly stopped spinning and plummeted down, slamming into the stage. There were a few flinched expressions, but still, it was only Elizabeth who screeched in horror. Many others started to laugh. Bellatrix managed to her feet. Her blood-shot eyes glared into mine. "Now, I'm forcing you to pay! EXPELLIARMUS!" she screamed. My wand flew out of my hand so quickly it took me a moment to register that it was gone. James grimaced. "Oh god..." he groaned. Sirius clenched his fists. Kate and Kelsey covered their eyes as everyone else watched. My wand landed in Bellatrix's outstretched palm. She smiled devilishly. She pointed her wand at me and squinted evilly. "Get ready, mudblood... CRUCIO!"  
  
A green light blasted from Bellatrix's wand. I watched in horror for a split second as the light shot into me. Horrible, mortifying pain erupted in my body. I shrieked in pure pain as I collapsed to the ground. It felt like white-hot wire whipping at every point of my skin. The last few things I heard was Whipple shouting for someone to get Dumbledore, Bellatrix laughing and someone screaming my name before I blacked out completely. 


	9. Recovery and Dumbledore’s Message

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.

Chapter 9: Recovery and Dumbledore's Message

There was a large throbbing in my head, or at least, I thought it was my head. I felt so weak all over. I couldn't feel my fingers. All I could see was black, a deep, never-ending blackness. Were my eyes closed? I tried to open them, but I couldn't. My eyelids stuck to my skin, refusing to move. I tried to move my lips. I could feel one touch the other. That meant something, right? I strained to move my tongue, and eventually after many attempts, I managed to lick my cracked lips. I could feel myself getting stronger, so I tried to open my eyes once again. The blurry light blinded me as if I'd never seen the sun in my life. I couldn't see much at first, but as I opened them wider, things became clearer.  
I recognized the large room. I had seen it in the Harry Potter movies. It was the hospital wing. There were no other students in the beds, so I was alone. For a split second I had forgotten why I was in here, but I remembered just as Madame Pomphrey bustled into the room. She realized I was awake and hurried over to me, her rather large butt moving side-to-side with each movement of her legs.  
"OH! Thank Merlin! I knew you'd wake up soon," she exclaimed. She bent over me and checked my strength or something, then handed me a cup with some sort of pale liquid. I reluctantly drank it, nearly spitting it out in horror. Madame Pomphrey sighed.  
"Well, it'll make you feel better," leaving me with a goblet of water. She waddled around the corner.  
"Ah, she's awake, you may see her now." I heard her say from around the corner. I drank a gulp of water as Kelsey, Lily, Alice and Cecily rounded around the corner. They gasped when they saw me sitting up and rushed to my bedside.  
"Oh my god! You're awake!" Lily cried happily. I nodded. "I thought you'd never wake up! Like you'd be in a coma for the rest of your life!" Kelsey exclaimed. I squinted in a confused way. "What are you talking about? How long have I been asleep?" I asked. "Five days," Alice answered. My jaw dropped in shock. "I've been unconscious for FIVE DAYS?!" The other's nodded. I shook my head in disbelief, taking another gulp from my goblet. Then my mind wandered back to the dueling. Bellatrix.  
"What happened after I fell?" I asked. Dora spoke up.  
"There was a HUGE uproar! I'd never seen Dumbledore so angry in my whole life! And it was horrible! Bellatrix was just laughing! I swear, if Remus hadn't held them back, Sirius and James would have killed her!" she exclaimed. Kelsey was clenching her hands.  
"You're teeth were gritted together and you were jerking around. It was so scary!" she described. I bit my lip, but smiled at how much my friends cared about me.  
"What happened to Bella-" I started but Alice interrupted.  
"Expelled," she said. "She won't becoming back," I nodded, relieved. Alice leaned over eagerly.  
"What did the curse feel like?" she asked. The other's leaned in closer to hear. I winced from the memory.  
"Like dying with no death. It felt like white-hot wires whipping me on every point of my body." The others shuddered as if they could feel it too. We suddenly heard an eruption of many loud voices and loud thumping through the hall, then the hospital wing door push open. We all turned as many Gryffindors hurried into the main room towards my bed.  
"We heard you were awake!" a second year squeaked. I nodded politely. My, things travel fast, I thought to myself.

James and Sirius sat in McGonnagal's empty class room in detention after hexing a frog down a third year's throat. Sirius rapped his fingers impatiently on the desk while James leaned back in his chair, twirling his quill around. Suddenly, they heard several people running down the corridor. Scooting his chair out, Sirius yelled out to one of them,  
"What's going on?" he asked loudly. The girl poked her head into the classroom, her eyes wide with excitement. She suddenly batted her eyelashes shyly and blushed at Sirius talking to her but whatever was going on was completely consuming her thoughts.

"It's Caroline! The girl who was hit by that curse last week! She's awake!" she exclaimed. James slammed back down on four legs.  
"Awake?!"

The girl nodded.  
"Practically the whole school's down there!" she said, running away to catch up with her friends. James turned to his best friend, whose jaw had dropped. After a silent moment, they pushed their chairs out of the way and sprinted around the corner towards the hospital wing.  
"MOONY!" Sirius yelled, noticing Remus and Peter in the hall. Remus whirled around.  
"What?" Sirius grabbed his arm.  
"She's awake, let's go!" Remus ran after them, Peter trailing behind.

The people were streaming in, questions coming from this way and that. It was so overwhelming; I had to lean way back from all the people huddling around me. I was still in pain and the position was not very comfortable. I smiled largely and said "I'm doing fine" repeatedly so people would know. I heard the door slam again. Great, more people, I thought. Suddenly, I saw Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew push their way from the front. I smiled weakly in relief it wasn't another first year I didn't know. Cecily grabbed Sirius' shirt so he wouldn't get sucked back into the crowd. James, Remus and Peter gripped the bed, so they wouldn't get sucked back either. I leaned my head away from a guy with horrible breath, and smiled as if I heard him. I glanced at Marauders and gestured a finger, to get closer so they could hear me. They leaned in as I yelled.  
"Will you guys get them all out of here?!" I tried to say over the talking. They nodded and stood up. James got up on the edge of the bed.  
"Do you mind?" he asked me. I shook my head, so he turned towards the crowd of people. Sirius whistled EXTREMELY loudly. Most everyone covered their ears and went completely silent.  
"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE OUT! THIS BLOODY ROOM CAN'T HOLD MUCH MORE OF YOU! COME ON PEOPLE! SHE'LL BE BACK IN CLASS PROBABLY LATER THIS WEEK!" James shouted quite loudly. There were some quiet objections, but the room became emptier and emptier. Remus pushed stray students out the door and slammed it closed once everyone was out. I noticed Lily looking rather impressed by how James handled it, and I bit in a smile. I sighed, adjusting my weak arms and sitting more comfortably.  
"Thank you," I said to them. I leaned forward, rubbing my temples from my now worse, throbbing headache. I groaned in pain, as I cracked the stiff joints in my back.  
"When did you wake up?" James asked.  
"Not that long ago," I answered through my hands that cupped my forehead. I groaned again.  
"I swear that mad cow is out to get me," I said, referring to Bellatrix. Remus scoffed.  
"I prefer drunken bitch, but that's just me." Sirius suggested. I laughed silently.  
"None of this would have happened if I hadn't threatened her in Hogsmeade," I scolded. Remus raised his eyebrows.  
"You threatened her?" he said as if I was mad.  
"Hey, she was asking for it!" I said trying to get myself out of it, but I didn't care.  
"Well, you won't get to threaten her for a while. She's been expelled," Sirius said, grinning slightly. "Probably have her wand snapped too.  
"So I've heard," I replied. I took another sip from my water.  
"When do you get out of here?" Alice asked. I shrugged.  
"I am afraid that Caroline will have to stay in here for another night, possibly two." Came a voice from the other side of the room. We all turned to see Dumbledore walking over to us, eyes twinkling as always.  
"I suggest you all make your way back to class. I would like to talk to Miss Lefave alone," he said. Obediently, they all walked towards the door.  
"All of you, except Miss Jistel, please." He corrected. Kelsey turned around as the others hurried out the door. Kelsey nervously sat down in the chair next to my bed. Dumbledore smiled at me.  
"I hope you are feeling better, Caroline. I apologize for not preventing this from happening," he said. I shook my head.  
"It's not your fault, Professor, it's my-" I said, but he held his hand up.  
"It is Bellatrix's fault only. It was her choice to bestow the dangerous curse upon you." He said. I nodded reluctantly, still convinced it was my own fault.  
"But, that is not why I wanted to talk to the both of you," he said. He strolled back and forth nonchalantly, as he began,  
"I realize that you have a secret that only the two of you know." He took out his wand and conjured up a green light.  
"Do you remember when you said these words?" He flashed his wand at the green light, and suddenly two voices came out of the light:

"It would be so much fun! We could like, keep them from dying because we'd know what would happen in their life!"

"I wish they were all real. Life would be so much more appealing to me,"

"You ever wondered what Harry Potter's life would be like if his parents weren't killed?"

The voices repeated themselves and swirled until Dumbledore flashed his wand at it again, and the green light disappeared. Kelsey and I were speechless. Our jaws set.  
"P-professor, how did you know that?" Kelsey squeaked. Dumbledore chuckled.  
"This was your wish wasn't it? Get to live with 'Harry Potter's' parents? Go to Hogwarts?" How do you two think you got here?" I looked with disbelief at him.  
"You sent us here?" He smiled and nodded.  
"As you well know, the threat of Lord Voldemort is so strong, Hogwarts is one of the few safest places left. I happened to come across the your wish, I knew you were just who I needed. Two people who knew what would happen in future days. So, I planned that if you befriended the two people who would bare the one boy who would cause the downfall of Voldemort, you could attempt to change history and your wondering will be answered." Kelsey and I sat completely silent as Dumbledore continued.  
"So, I sent one of my handy green mistifiers to send you here. I conjured a tricky and powerful memory spell to all wizards and witches that you two had been going to Hogwarts since you were 11 years old. That is why Alice knew who you both were."  
"But, Professor, won't our parents at home notice we've been gone?" Dumbledore shook his head.  
"Each year that passes here, will be one minute in your world. I planned for you both to be here until the day that Voldemort will have his downfall. Only you know that date, so when that day comes, you will go back to your world. You will not age, for if you did, then you would look mighty strange back home, eh?"  
"So, it's going to feel like we've been here for years?" Kelsey asked. Dumbledore nodded.  
"I want you to both understand that you have many lives on your shoulders. Including the future Potters." He said with a wink. "I can give as many instructions you ask for, but I warn you, it is difficult to change what has apparently already happened." With that, Dumbledore smiled at me.  
"Get well, soon, my dear. Kelsey, head along to class, but remember; you must never let anyone know why you know so much about them, for it might alter their lives." Then he turned and walked out the door. Kelsey and I looked at each other stunned.  
"I'll see you later, Caroline." She got up, but turned around eagerly.  
"Oh my god!! I forgot to tell you! Yesterday, I got set up with Remus!" she exclaimed.  
"NO!!!" I exclaimed excitedly. "WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO?!" Kelsey grinned, biting her lip.  
"They told him I needed tutoring in Transfiguration, so I'm meeting him in the library before dinner, so keep your fingers crossed!" she said with joy. I laughed and crossed my fingers.  
"Now, go! Go to class and come back and tell me what happened!" She smiled and hurried out of the room. I smiled to myself. Too cool, I thought. Blinking, I realized how tired all of this had made me, so I lay down and closed my eyes, hoping the excess would cease.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter! Next chapter: Be prepared for a full moon ;-)


	10. Moony Revealed

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.  
  
Chapter 10: Moony Revealed  
  
I woke up again to another throbbing headache. Ugh, I groaned to myself. The moon shining SO brightly through the window didn't help. Whoa, rewind! Waking up completely, I got out of the bed and crept to the window. I gasped with some sort of excitement or nervousness, I couldn't tell. It was a full moon. Remus. I noticed he looked a bit "peaky" yesterday! I squinted into the night to see maybe, just maybe, but I saw nothing except black. Cool, I thought. Then something hit me, I was in the hospital wing! Remus MUST always stay here after a full moon! This was my chance to know all there is to know about werewolves! Ask all my questions! Suddenly, I noticed something in the darkness. My stomach churned. Oh my god! I finally got adjusted to the deep blackness and caught glimpse of someone hurrying up the stone steps of Hogwarts. I then abruptly heard what I was convinced was Madame Pomphrey's clicking heals by the main hospital wing door. I rushed across the room and leapt into my bed, hastily trying to get the covers I had kicked off over me. I squeezed my eyes shut, prepared for someone to come into the room, but nothing came. I opened my eyes, one at a time, but slammed them shut again when I suddenly heard the door click. I held my breath, which was completely unnecessary, but I was extremely nervous as I heard two pairs of footsteps walk into the room.  
"Here you are," I heard Madame Pomphrey say in a whisper. I heard a rustling of sheets from a bed not far from mine. I then lastly heard Pomphrey's heels click across the room to the door as she left. Now I was alone, with who I knew for sure was Remus. I sucked in a breath as I carefully turned so I could see from under the covers. Sure enough, it was Remus. And that's not all, he was awake! He was sitting up in the bed and was rubbing his head, since naturally, he probably had a headache. This was my chance. Watch yourself, Caroline, I said to myself. I took a few deep breaths.  
  
Remus leaned forward in the hospital wing bed and rubbed his throbbing forehead. The transformations were becoming less and less painful, but it did something to him.  
"How'd it go?" a voice in the room asked loudly into the silence. Remus could have sworn he jumped a good 3 feet in surprise. His heart had stopped so abruptly; he had never been so startled in his life. He whirled his head around towards the voice, to find Caroline sitting up in bed. Oh god, he thought to himself.  
"W-what?" He stammered. What'd she mean? Did she know?  
  
I sat on the side of the bed.  
"Your transformation," I answered. Man, I have some explaining to do, I thought to myself. Remus' jaw dropped slightly in shock and confusion.  
"I um, I know you're a-a werewolf," I said, embarrassed. Remus' shoulders sagged making him look more tired than he was. He looked like he had given up on something.  
"How long have you known?" he asked quietly. I got up and walked over to his bed.  
"A while," I said, leaning on the bed post. He looked down, jaw set.  
"You're probably one of those people who probably told the whole world," he interpreted. I put my hands on my hips.  
"THOSE people?! THOSE people who think that you being a werewolf ruins THEIR life when they have no idea how it ruins yours? THOSE people who abandon you when you have a problem where you need friends the most?!" I said a bit too loudly. Remus looked up at me nervously, but instead of seeing anger, he saw compassion.  
"No, Remus, I'm not one of those people," I said gently, sitting down on the edge of his bed. He smiled weakly at me. I smiled back.  
"I don't care that you're a werewolf! Kelsey doesn't either!" I exclaimed. Remus shot his head up.  
"Kelsey knows?" he asked sadly. "She probably hates me," I laughed.  
"HATES YOU?! You think she hates you!" I shook my head. He had no idea. "Remus, Kelsey doesn't care. I don't either! You know why? Because, it's not your fault you're a werewolf. You don't know what you do as a werewolf. Besides, we never see you like that anyways!" I exclaimed. He had a look on his face as if saying, 'you're one of the few who think that', but he stayed silent. Okay, act polite, I said to myself.  
"When did you get bitten?" I asked sympathetically. He rubbed his eyes tiredly.  
"I can hardly remember, maybe about 4 or 5, could be 6." He replied. I nodded. I was about to ask another question, but surprisingly, he kept going.  
"My parents tried everything to cure me, but nothing worked. So, I grew up with no friends until I was eleven. Many people questioned Dumbledore if it was safe to send me to Hogwarts. But being the great bloke he is, he accepted me if we took the right precautions. They built that vicious tree out there," nodding towards the window. "That led to a shack in Hogsmeade where I can transform," I nodded. I knew this already, but kept listening.  
"My first year, I made three great friends," he said, smiling. So did I.  
"James, Sirius, and Peter of course, eventually found out, but surprisingly, still stayed loyal. They also became-," he stopped short. Dammit, he said to himself. He had said too much. He quickly changed the subject, even though I knew what he was going to say.  
"You have to swear not to tell ANYONE," he said seriously. I nodded and held out my hand in agreement.  
"I solemnly swear," I said. (A/N: It's ok if you didn't get that.) Remus shook it, and smiled. I sat there for a moment. I don't know why, I just did. Finally, I knocked back into my senses and got up.  
"Well, judging from the dark bags under your eyes, I'll leave you to sleep. I'm dead tired myself." I said and got up. He nodded as I turned around and went back to my bed. That went surprisingly well, I said to myself. I curled up under the sheets and immediately fell asleep.  
  
Happily, when Madame Pomphrey came to check on me the next morning, she said I was good enough to go back to class. I must have thanked her about 15 times before rushing off to get dressed. I hurried up to the Gryffindor common room only to find out that the password had been changed. Gladly, The Fat Lady let me in when she found out what had happened to me and then gave me the new password. I thanked her and quickly stuffed my books and things into my bag, then practically sprinted out of the common room with all the stored energy I hadn't been able to burn off. I checked my wristwatch. I was to be in Transfiguration. I raced down the stairs and down corridor until I made it to McGonagall's room. I caught my breath before pushing open the door.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, you must remember to-" McGonagall began, but stopped when she saw me come into the room. I gave her an apologetic look for interrupting the class, but she seemed to swat it back with her eyes. The other students turned to see who had come in. There was an eruption of whispers and gasps. Lily and the others squealed happily, glad I was back in class. Sirius and James grinned broadly making me rather weak in the knees.  
"Welcome back, Miss Lefave. I hope you are better. Please have a seat. Miss Evans, will you please debrief her on what we've been studying?" Professor McGonagall said. I quickly sat down at my seat next to Lily, VERY glad to be back in class. Besides, I couldn't be in the hospital wing during the upcoming Christmas break! I looked at the other Slytherins which were in the class. Elizabeth and her posse scowled at me before focusing back to McGonagall. They were obviously weren't happy with Bellatrix's suspension. Kelsey had asked me in the hospital wing when the others weren't listening why Bellatrix hadn't been expelled or sent to Azkaban. I thought that maybe since Voldemort hadn't had his downfall yet, the curses weren't illegal. But Christmas Break was rapidly approaching, and Bellatrix's return seems to come closer and closer. I took my mind off that by waiting for the Quidditch season, which would be coming soon as well. Remus also came back to class and it was rather hard to look at him, after the other night and I seriously hoped that he trusted me with such secret information. Well, Bellatrix was gone, Christmas break and Quidditch season were approaching and Kelsey and I had Dumbledore's plan in mind. I was going to be very busy in the next few months. 


	11. The Return of Bellatrix Black

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.

Chapter 11: The Return of Bellatrix Black

The Christmas holidays came and went. Of course, Kelsey and I had to stay at Hogwarts which we hardly minded at all. It gave us a chance to talk to teachers about winter break assignments, to study for the approaching N.E.W.T.S…or O.W.L.S…(I was still a bit confused about the final exams) and to get to know Professor Dumbledore and the other teachers better. To our excitement, Dumbledore organized a trip to Hogsmeade for all the students who were staying at Hogwarts. So, Kelsey and I enjoyed at day at Hogwarts alone without the fuss from the guys, Bellatrix and our friends. It also gave us a chance to talk about Dumbledore's assignment.  
"We could lock them in a room for 24 hours," Kelsey suggested. I shook my head.  
"No, they'd kill each other." I replied. Kelsey slumped down. She had come up with at least 50 ideas and none of them seems right. I shrugged.  
"Maybe, we should just let it rest until next school year. I mean, that's when they got together right? And since they'll both be Head Boy and Head Girl, it'll be easier." I said. Kelsey nodded.  
"Maybe you're right. Besides, Quidditch season is coming up! We can't miss that!" she exclaimed. I jumped up in down in my seat.  
"I KNOW! I'm SO excited!" I exclaimed. Then my smiled faded.

"I'm worried about Bellatrix."

"WHY? Caroline, she was expelled. She's not coming back!!"

"I know but-"

"Look, she's gone. Forget about her! Let's have this year and next year in peace, alright?

"Okay."

Soon, classes restarted again to everyone's joy. (A/N: sarcasm, sarcasm) and things went back to normal. Students began to get quite worked up about the end-of-school exams, but I was rather excited about them. I mean, compared to science and English finals, these exams just seemed plain FUN! But more so than finals, Quidditch season was getting closer and we began to see less and less of James and Sirius. James was a seeker and Sirius was a beater. Apparently, they were both extraordinarily good, so Kelsey and I could NOT WAIT for the first game: Slytherin vs. Gryffindor.  
We entered the month of February as fast as January had come and with Quidditch season just around the corner, I had completely forgotten about Bellatrix. Until she returned.

I sat next to Sirius in Charms, and I was practicing my Summoning Charm for the N.E.W.T.S (or O.W.L.S…sigh…), when the door swished open furiously. The class quieted down immediately and turned towards the door. The life in the classroom seemed to be sucked out of it as Bellatrix Black stood in the doorway. I dropped my wand in surprise when she suddenly spoke up.  
"Sorry I'm late, Professor." She said, "I just got back," she added, eyeing me evilly. The classroom went into bedlam of whispers and murmurs.

"She was expelled, wasn't she?"

"Yeah, her wand was probably snapped too."

"Then, why is she here?"

Quite the contrary, her wand was perfectly intact. I quickly jerked my head around and looked down in utter shock, putting my hand in front of my face. I couldn't bear to look at her. People glanced at me quickly before glancing back at that spawn of hell walking into the classroom.  
"Miss-Miss Black. Does the headmaster know you are here?" Professor Flitwick said.

"Yes, Professor."

"Oh. Very well. Take your seat, Miss Black." Professor Flitwick attempted to say as sternly as possible. Bellatrix walked down the long rows of desks, each row lost its life as she past. I felt her looking at me the whole time. Suddenly, she stopped momentarily beside my desk. I glanced up at her quickly, jaw set. Sirius sucked in his breath. She squinted at me before sitting next to a squealing Elizabeth.  
"Oh god," I whispered under my breath. "What is she doing here?" I whispered. Sirius let out his breath, as he turned and glanced at James and Remus. Both looked just as shocked as he was.  
"Well, back to your study time, everyone! Miss Elizabeth, please catch Miss Black up on what we've been studying." Professor Flitwick said into the awkward silence. Eventually, everyone began to work again. Lily turned her chair around at me.  
"Why is she here? I thought she was expelled." she said, eyeing Bellatrix. I shrugged, speechless.

"Make sure you don't leave his room without Kelsey, Alice, Cecily or me." She said. I scoffed.  
"I didn't plan on it." I said quietly. She smiled with reassurance before turning around. I didn't do much for the rest of the class. I just wanted to get to lunch. Bellatrix kept glancing at me, which made me more uncomfortable than I was already. The time ticked slowly until Flitwick FINALLY spoke up.  
"OH! Look at the time. I apologize, class dismissed!" he exclaimed. I quickly began to pack my books, but decided it was best I kept my wand out. I knew Bellatrix was watching me and she seemed to be taking her time. I glanced at the Cecily, Lily, Alice and Kelsey fearfully, but Kelsey nodded, telling me that nothing was going to happen. I noticed James, Sirius or Remus had not packed up their wands either. Thank god, I thought as I made my way towards the door, Kelsey right beside me. Bellatrix quickly flung her bag over her shoulder and quickly walked out the door behind us.  
Just keep walking, I told myself. She wouldn't try anything. She wasn't stupid. I began to pick up the pace. I wasn't about to waste my time. But I wasn't fast enough. Not for Bellatrix.  
"Hey, Mudblood!" came a voice a little ways behind me. Sirius, who was walking with James in front of us, began to skid to a stop, but I grabbed his arm, pulling him along to keep him walking.  
"No, don't stop. She's not that thick," I said harshly. I tightened my grip on my wand.  
"HEY! Mudblood! You better stop, or this wand will have to get used to that curse again!" she screeched making sure any staff were out of earshot. Many students stopped and watched. Elizabeth cackled. I took a deep breath and stopped. Kelsey hurried beside me.  
"Caroline. Don't." She whispered. I ignored her and turned around and marched back until I was just a few feet away from Bellatrix. I wasn't going to be afraid of her. She grinned devilishly.  
"That little expulsion threat didn't stop me, Mudblood. I'd watch your back if were you," she hissed. I scowled. She pushed by me roughly and pushed her way through the others. Sirius growled inside his throat. I turned around and watched her strut away. I shook my head in disgust and walked towards the Great Hall in her direction. Lily hurried to my side.  
"I can't believe you didn't do anything!" she said. I scoffed.  
"No thank-you. I'd rather stay alive then honor myself in kicking her arse," I turned into the Great Hall for lunch as Sirius and James hurried off to Quidditch practice. I sat down next to Alice and picked at my food. Alice put her hand on my shoulder.  
"Forget about Bellatrix. She wouldn't dare try anything after all that. Besides, the next Quidditch match is coming up in a few weeks!" she said brightly. I smiled. She always was the silver-lining of a thunder cloud. Kelsey nodded with excitement. Lily rolled her eyes.  
"Joy. One more thing that James Potter can show off about," she groaned. I cocked an eyebrow at Kelsey and Remus (who was sitting beside her) then grinning at Lily.  
"Lily, the only reason he does that is because he wants you to like him. He just wants to impress you." I explained. Lily shook her head.  
"But why is he nice to all of you, but just acts like a complete JERK in front of me?!" she exclaimed. Kelsey and I laughed.  
"BECAUSE HE LIKES YOU!" we ended up saying in unison. The other's looked taken aback, but Remus and Peter seemed very concentrated on their meal a little ways down the table. I could catch a glimpse of a laugh on Remus' face. Lily shrugged.  
"Fine. If James Potter can PROVE to me that there's more to him than arrogance and all that crap, I'll CONSIDER, but only CONSIDER, going to Hogsmeade with him," Lily said quite simply. I bit my lip to hold in the smile. I glanced at Kelsey momentarily, who gave me a quick thumbs-up before anyone could see it. Well, that was settled. Now, we'd just have to tame the Potter. Of course, after Quidditch was over. There was no way getting to him during the season. Kelsey and I had our work cut out for us.

Top of Form


	12. Quidditch

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.  
  
A/N: OMG ya'll! I am sooo sorry for not updating soon! I've had major writers block! It was horrible. Now, give me some slack, this is the first time I'm writing about Quidditch.  
  
Chapter 12: Quidditch  
  
Days passed and the rapidly approaching Quidditch game came closer than ever. James and Sirius did nothing else for weeks. They had quite a tight schedule with Quidditch practices:  
EAT  
SLEEP  
CLASSES  
QUIDDITCH  
QUIDDITCH  
QUIDDITCH  
  
They were so busy in fact that they didn't have the time to pull one single prank. Even on Snape, who was their special case. I remembered what Lily had said the other day, so I mentioned this to her.  
"It's Quidditch season. Once it's over, Potter will be back to his annoying, prank-pulling ways. Trust me." She said as we walked to class. Kelsey tried to convince her too, but she got the same answer. AGAIN, we laid the Lily/James project aside and anxiously awaited the game the next day!  
The night before the Quidditch game, I couldn't sleep, so I sat on Kelsey's bed while she told me about her "study date" with Remus Lupin. She seemed very eager so I assumed that it went well.  
"It was at first a bit awkward, but then we really started to talk and we talked about EVERYTHING! Oh my gosh, he was so nice and just as I thought he would be!" she said with excitement. She leaned in closer, so the others, even though they were sleeping, couldn't hear.  
"I hope he doesn't find out I know he's a werewolf. I mean, it's not like I care, but.that would be awkward," she whispered. I smiled sheepishly.  
"Actually, er, he does know," I said. Kelsey's eyebrows shot up.  
"He does? He's not mad? He never told me," she said, surprised. I shrugged.  
"Well, if he cares, he would have told you," I reassured her. She nodded then let out a rather large yawn. I took the cue and went back to my bed. I could hardly wait for tomorrow's Quidditch match. ****************  
Luckily, classes were cut short due to the match and the morning classes seem to flow by quite quickly. After the final period of the day, the Gryffindors hurried back to the common room to get any sort of object to root on the Quidditch team-flags, ominoculars, etc. At 2:00, all the students rushed out to the Quidditch field where the Slytherin and Gryffindor players waited in their little tents/dugout things. Kelsey and I finally reached the Gryffindor stands just as the trumpets blew. The crowd roared with excitement as the Gryffindor players soared out into the open, decked out in their red robes with those masculine shin and arm guards I found VERY hot.  
"FLETCHER! BLACK! SCOTT! PLATT! JERRET! WHEELER! POTTER! GRYFFINDORS!" the commentator yelled. Kelsey and I screamed loudly with the rest of the Gryffindors as Angus Fletcher, Sirius, Elliot Scott, Dougray Platt, Luke Jerret, Jude Wheeler and James sped around the field in a synchronized formation. The commentator announced the Slytherins and we booed them along with the rest. I watched intently as the Slytherins and Gryffindors flew to their places. A VERY young Madame Hooch stood on the ground looking up at the players who were glaring at their opponents. I could see her talking to them even though I couldn't hear her. She opened the trunk with the Quaffle, bludgers, and snitch. The bludgers catapulted into the air, followed by the golden snitch. James's eyes followed the snitch until it disappeared. Madame Hooch picked up the Quaffle. The crowd became nervously silent until Madame Hooch threw the Quaffle straight into the air. The crowd erupted like a volcano as the players zoomed and dodged around each other. My heart went to my throat it was so exciting!  
"GRYFFINDOR BEATER SIRIUS BLACK MAKES AN EXCELLENT HIT TO THE BLUDGER- -IT JUST HIT THE SLYTHERIN KEEPER! THERE'S WHEELER WITH THE QUAFFLE, YES! 10 POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR!!" the commentator shouted into the microphone. The Gryffindors shrieked happily. Sirius high-fived James before speeding off after another Bludger. James flew high above the action below and scanned the field carefully in hopes of catching glimpse of the Snitch. He cursed loudly as Slytherin made 20 points. He had to get that Snitch. Kelsey applauded as Angus did an impressive pass of the Quaffle to Dougray then leaned her head closer to mine to make sure I could hear.  
"Do you see the Snitch?!" she yelled over the crowd. I shook my head. She nodded.  
"James will find it! There's no doubt in my mind of that!" I yelled back. She laughed. I winced as Slytherin beater, Oliver Jeckle, whacked Luke Jerret with his club/bat. Luke was flown off his broomstick, but suddenly caught onto it. Students gasped.  
James grimaced. Luke had flown to the ground. His arm was most likely broken. He flew in a different direction, watching carefully. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. The Snitch whizzed by his ear. Blowing the hair out of his face, he leaned forward to go faster, and then split through the sky after it.  
"GRYFFINDOR SEEKER JAMES POTTER HAS SEEN THE SNITCH! THERE HE GOES." the commentator shouted. Kelsey and I, along with the others screamed in encouragement. Sirius leaned back on his broomstick.  
"Come on, Prongs!!" he yelled through his cupped hands. James bit his tongue to concentrate. He was in very close range with the Snitch, but he had to keep it in front of him. The Slytherin Seeker was right on his trail, gaining on him with every second. His heart thumped loudly, hearing Gryffindors yelling his name below him. He kicked his broom.  
"C'mon! Faster!" he said to his broom. His broom surged forward. The Slytherin Seeker rammed into his side, pushing him over a tad. James shoved him over again and kicked his broom harder. He reached out, but the Slytherin Seeker pushed the end of his broom sending him forward. He grabbed the air, before his broom plummeted to the ground. The crowd seemed to stop around him. Getting off his back, he leaned back on the soles of his boots and opened his hand. There was the Golden Snitch fluttering in his palm. The crowd exploded.  
"JAMES POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!!!" the commentator screamed. Kelsey and I jumped up and down screaming.  
"I told you! I told you!" I shouted happily. Sirius did a flip on his broom before landing to the ground. James stood up only to be attacked by his team-mates. Sirius slapped his back.  
"Brilliant Prongs! Brilliant!" he said, grinning. The students began to spill out onto the field.  
Kelsey and I walked out into the field. Bellatrix deliberately shoved past me as she ran along with her posse. I didn't take notice. Dora, Kate, Kathleen, Cecily, Alice and Lily hurried toward us.  
"We couldn't find you two in the stands!" Alice exclaimed. I shrugged.  
"That was an AMAZING game!" Dora said. I laughed and nodded in agreement.  
"Is James always that good?" I asked. Cecily rolled her eyes.  
"Potter's never missed a Snitch ever," she said. "You've seen all the games, Caroline! You know that!" she added. I laughed nervously.  
"Right, I knew that," I said. Kelsey nodded furiously to cover up our stupidness. I walked out to the pitch. Sirius and James were talking to Remus and Peter. Now, I've ALWAYS loved Quidditch outfits, but I'd never seen them up close. I nearly fell over! They were hot! Kelsey elbowed me and raised her eyebrows. I laughed.  
"Great game, Potter," Cecily said. James's free hand (the other holding his broom) shot to his hair. As if it wasn't "wind-blown". I personally thought it looked good until he did that. His eyebrows immediately did this arch movement that I didn't mind, but Lily just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.  
"Thanks," he said in a more mature voice. I nearly laughed out loud, but didn't of course. I heard Kelsey scoff.  
"Who are you playing next?" Kelsey asked. Sirius shifted his broom to his other shoulder.  
"Ravenclaw, I think," he said. Kelsey nodded. James glanced at Lily, who obviously did not want to be there.  
"Hey Evans," he said. Lily sagged her shoulders.  
"I don't want to deal with you right now Potter, because all you'll do is strut around-"she started.  
"OKAY!" I said. I grabbed her arm and gestured for the others to follow.  
"Great game Guys! We'll be seeing you around! "I said to the Marauders. I gave James as apologetic face, before tugging Lily back into the crowd. The others with us. James put his hands up in a mock surrender.  
"That was a nice save," Sirius said laughing. James rolled his eyes.  
"What is with her?! Every year!" he said. Remus grinned.  
"We'll never know, Prongs," he said before turning to talk to other students.  
  
I dragged Lily out of the mass of students and whirled around to her. She looked at me, lips in a thin line.  
"Is it a crime to say 'hi'?" I asked. Lily crossed her arms.  
"That was just the start, Caroline. Before you know it, he'll be rambling on trying to impress me about the most idiotic stuff!" she exclaimed. I crossed my arms too.  
"What's wrong with being impressed?!" I asked. Lily started at me, long and hard.  
"He NEVER gives me any respect as a person. He always expects me to fall into his charms and go on a date with him. He'll never change. Ever." She said calmly. I sagged my shoulders.  
"I'm sorry Lily. It's not my place to say any of this. But, he's just being a guy. He's better than you think! He'd give you as much respect you need, if you just give his the respect he deserves. He does so much for everyone! You'll regret it someday, trust me." I said. Lily looked puzzled, biting her lip. The other's looked intent on seeing how Lily would answer.  
"Fine." She said simply. She smiled as if saying thanks before turning and walking up to the castle. We stood where we were. The others stared at me as if I was Gandhi for something. I shrugged, then we hurried to catch up with Lily. 


	13. Detention and Willows

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.

Chapter 13: Detention and Willows

Oh yes, my least favorite class: Potions. It wasn't like I was bad at it; it was just kind of like science class. It's there, and you hate it, but get by without difficulty. What's worse is that the class is infested with Slytherinsalong with 6 year Gryffindors of course. I fortunately sat next to Cecily and Alice, who, since they have taken Potions since first year (while I "have", but "haven't") knew the basics, which I should know, but obviously don't. Kelsey sat next to Lily, which solved her own problem of not having a clue what to do.

I would always pray that Professor Fillpot (A/N: hee hee hee) would ask me a question that had been mentioned in the Harry Potter series that I could answer, but to my embarrassment, did not.

That left me standing silent, cheeks burning as everyone waited for me to answer, but I didn't know.

This wasn't a problem in Defense Against the Dark Arts or whatever because they covered PLENTY of "dada" classes in the Harry Potter series.

So there I was again, sitting in Professor Fillpot's class, working on a potion, when she began to ask students questions.

"Two mandrakes' leaves." Alice read aloud, as I dropped two leaves in carefully, hoping it wouldn't explode like last time. (That was my fault, as usual) It turned the right color, so I felt satisfied. 'I think I'm getting used to this," I thought to myself. I looked at the small, magical clock (that I finally was able to understand) on the wall. 20 minutes until class was over. 'Thank god,' I said inwardly.

"Alright, Class," Professor Fillpot said, getting our attention, even though James and Sirius kept talking. This must have been usual, since Professor Fillpot ignored it.

"Remember you homework and before I dismiss you all, I'll ask some of you some questions to make sure you have learned from this potion."

'Oh god.' I thought to myself. 'Please don't pick me.'

"Miss Lefave!" Professor Fillpot said.  
'

DAMMIT!' I looked up, cheeks burning, preparing for my embarrassment of the day. WHY, OH WHY DID JAMES, SIRIUS AND REMUS HAVE TO BE IN THE ROOM!

"What is the difference between mandrake powder and monkswood?" she asked. This was obviously supposed to be easy since many students scoffed.

'Oh god.' I thought again. 'Okay. I know monkswood is the same as wolfsbane, but wolfsbane hasn't been discovered yet! What do I say!'

"Miss Lefave?" Professor Fillpot asked. I glanced at Kelsey. She looked confused herself.

"Erm, well, it's-"I attempted, but was cut short when a haughty male voice on the opposite side of the room spoke up.

"The answer to this INSANELY easy question is that mandrake powder is a fatal concoction, much like a mandrake in full form. Monkswood is not poisonous and also has healing powers, Professor." It said in an eerie drawl. 'Who is this bastard!' I thought. The voice sounded awfully familiar.

I turned towards it and it was exactly who I thought it was. Severus Snape. Damn, no wonder the Marauders hated him so much.

Sirius and James had sucked in their breath, much like the way it was when Bellatrix challenged to duel me.

But, Snape was lame, so I raised my eyebrows and turned to look at him. Professor Fillpot was about to say something but Snape continued.

"I don't see why you bothered picking on Lefave, Professor. As it seems that every time you do, she hasn't answered correctly. As for me, Professor, I know every potion in the book," he said, satisfied.

My jaw dropped slightly. Sirius chewed at the inside of his mouth to keep the urge from attacking Snape. James would've too, but took one glance at Lily and held back. 'THE NERVE!' I thought, enraged.

Again, Professor Fillpot was about to say something, but this time, I spoke up.  
"Is that so, SNAPE! Well, actually, woo-hoo for you, but I know a potion you wouldn't know about," I said. Snape leaned back in his chair.

"I doubt it. And what's this potion called, EXACTLY? If you can remember a simple name," he said, icily.

"Yeah, I can. It's called SHAMPOO!" I retorted loudly. There was an audible gasp and some of those dissing noises.

James, Sirius and Remus turned around in their chairs looking at me with shock and very much impressed. Lily gasped.

Cecily laughed out loud while the others covered their mouths to keep from laughing.

"ENOUGH! Miss Lefave, detention with McGonagall. Now!" Professor Fillpot yelled sternly. Bellatrix began to snicker uncontrollably. I stood up quickly.

"WHAT! He totally started it, Professor!" I said, angrily. Professor Fillpot crossed his arms.

"And you finished it! To detention, now!" he yelled, pointing towards the door. My jaw dropped farther.

Roughly gathering my stuff, I crammed it into my book bag. I kept my expression motionless. As I adjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder. I glanced at James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. Their jaws had dropped too.

I glared menacingly at Snape, who cocked an eyebrow at me, as I stormed out the door. Once the door slammed behind me, I groaned loudly as it echoed down the corridor.

I stomped down the corridor towards McGonagall's room, not sure what to expect.

Detention wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I missed dinner but I wasn't hungry.

Professor McGonagall must have liked me because she didn't lecture me at all. She just told me to do my homework until she let me go.

I hurried up to the common room, glad that I had gotten all my homework done so that I had a free evening.

I was still incredibly angry about the whole Snape thing, so I clambered through the portrait, and flung my heavy bag on to the carpeted floor with a heaving groan. No one was in the common room, so I went back through the fat lady to look for Kelsey.

I walked down the corridor, when I came to the main hall.

I saw Snape in the main hall and groaned, looking for another route around to avoid him.

Suddenly, I saw Sirius come up to him. I didn't think much of it, but he was talking in a hushed, harsh voice and I couldn't resist.

Inching behind the stone wall, I managed to get close enough so I was able to hear the last of their brief conversation.

"Just prod with a stick. That's it."

That was all I heard before Sirius jogged off.

"What?" I asked myself. I watched Snape look slickly around him before gliding through the main doors into the dark.

Should I know about this? Did they mention this in one of the Harry Potter books? Wait, in the third book! Sirius played a prank on Snape when they were in their 6th year! I looked out the window and indeed, it was a full moon.

"Oh no."

Why is Sirius so thick!

"What's wrong?" I whirled around to see Lily and Kelsey standing behind me.

"We went to got see you at detention, but I guess you're already out. Man, you really got Snape in Potions! I laughed so hard after class!" Kelsey said, smiling. Lily cocked her head to the side.

"Are you all right?"

"It's Snape."

"What about him?"

I turned toward Kelsey and mouthed _Whomping Willow_ jerking my head towards the outside.

Kelsey and I looked up into the sky through a window at the full moon. Kelsey gasped and turned towards Lily, who looked terribly confused.

"What's going on?"

I glanced at Kelsey. She didn't seem to know what to say.

"Well, I think someone's going to play a prank on Snape. They're sending him down to the Whomping Willow." I articulated.

"I KNEW IT! OF COURSE HE WOULD DO THIS!" Lily exclaimed.

Kelsey and I jerked our heads towards her.

"Who?" we said in unison.

"POTTER! You remember, Kelsey! He and Black started talking about rubbish, like revenge and all that," She said. Kelsey nodded slowly.

"The Willow will kill Snape! You remember what happened the other year! That little boy almost lost his eye! I hate Snape as much as you two do, and I HATE Potter, but murder won't help his record. Come on!" she said, hurrying towards the door.

"No! Lily! Come back!" Kelsey yelled after her. We both sprinted out the doors after her towards the flailing tree.

James and Sirius leaned back on two legs in the chairs in the common room. Peter lay casually on the couch. The Marauder's Map lay on the table. James checked his watch.

"We have a few minutes until it's safe to go down to Moony," he said. Sirius suddenly let out a bark-like laugh.

"Snape doesn't know that," he said, laughing. James turned to him.  
"What?" James asked much more harshly then he meant it.

"I told Snivellus how to get into the Shack. What a fright he'll have!" he said, still laughing. Peter sat up and dropped his jaw. So did James.

"You WHAT!" he asked loudly. NOT AS harsh as he meant it to be.

"A fright, Padfoot? Moony could kill the bastard!" James thrust his wand out and tapped the Marauder's Map.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good!" he said. He watched as the map appeared on the once blank sheet of parchment. Sirius was right.

He saw the small little red dot of Severus Snape standing motionless in front of the Whomping Willow.

James groaned. Suddenly, he noticed three new dots appear on the parchment just inside the main doors.

They were standing in a circle, but then suddenly, one of them began moving fast towards the Whomping Willow, the other two paused for a moment before moving after the first. The names suddenly appeared.

Caroline Lefave, Kelsey Jistel, and Lily Evans.

"Bloody Hell." he yelled to the paper. Sirius leaned forward to see what it was.

He gaped, and then looked at James. Peter looked to too. The stood silent for a second, then suddenly, James charged through the Fat Lady portrait, Sirius and Peter behind him.

"LILY! STOP! COME BACK!" Kelsey yelled as we ran towards the Whomping Willow. Shit! I thought to myself, as I pressed myself harder to catch up with Lily.

It had gotten completely dark and now I had no idea where I was going. Kelsey pulled out her wand.

"Lumos!" she yelled. The wand lit up like a flashlight. Why didn't I think of that! I did the same. The grass illuminated with the light. I pointed out in front of me.

I gasped and skidded to a stop before a gigantic tree branch slammed into my skull.

Kelsey screamed in shock as a small twig swatted fiercely at her arms and face.

"LILY! Kelsey! Find the stick, to get into the willow!" I said, searching the ground. Kelsey immediately aimed her wand towards the grass.

"I got it!" I heard her yell. She prodded the first root knot. Thankfully, the roar of the tree stopped. It had frozen. I aimed my wand towards a small passageway into the tree trunk.

"In there!" I rushed around some frozen branches as I hurried down into the Whomping Willow, Kelsey on my heel.

"LILY! PLEASE! YOU NEED TO COME BACK!" I screamed down an endless passage way. Suddenly, we heard her. We heard Lily's voice!

"LILY! WAIT UP! COME BACK! IT'S NOT JAMES' FAULT!" Kelsey yelled.

"Where are you two!" came Lily's voice fortunately not that far from us.

"Walk back! Please Lily! It's not safe!" I yelled to her. Kelsey pointed down the corridor as we saw Lily's light coming closer. Then we saw her running towards us.

"OH! Thank god! Lily, we need to go back. What's down there is really-"

"I can't find Snape! If we don't find him, then we'll be accused of murdering him or something." She interrupted.

"No, you're not going any farther. We have to get out of here now." I said, seizing Lily by the arm.

Lily began to object, but Kelsey and I were pulling her too quickly towards the passageway we had come.

We emerged into the night just as James came sprinting towards us.

"Potter?"

"All of you. Get back to the castle now."

Lily took a step towards him, her arms crossed.

"How could you do this?"

"What are you talking about?"

"How could you send Snape down there to risk his life?"

"Snape? Snape's still down there?" he demanded. I nodded.

"Because of you." Lily said.

"No, listen. It wasn't me, Lily—Look. All three of you. GO back up to the castle immediately."

He pushed past us and into the trunk before Lily could say another word.

Kelsey and I dragged Lily back up to the castle without saying a word just as Sirius came running out.

"Did you see James?" he panted.

I sighed, nodding towards the Whomping Willow. Sirius cursed before running off.

Lily turned towards me.

"Caroline, what's going on?"

I didn't answer as we all went back into the castle.

"Snape!" James yelled as he jogged down the passageway. He was getting close to the Shack. Hopefully he wasn't too late.

He saw the opening to the Shrieking Shack and hurried inside just barely seeing Snape turn around a corner.

"Snape!" he yelled angrily, turning around the corner coming face to face with his least favorite person.

"Potter," he growled. "You've come to witness your own expulsion."

"And you're here to witness your own death. Get out of here now."

"No, I'm going to see what's down here that has to do with Lupin," he hissed and turned back around.

James grabbed the back of Snape's robe and successfully stopped him, being much stronger than Severus.

Snape whirled around to face him. He sneered, swung his arm back and punched James hard.

James jerked backward and stumbled, tasting his own blood. Snape briskly passed him to reach the end of the corridor but James was too quick for him.

He swung his arm out tripping Snape easily. Snape slammed into the ground.

James stood and took Snape by the shoulders but Snape had gasped.

James glanced down the corridor as something large and covered with fur passed the doorway.

James froze. If Remus saw either of them, they'd be dead.

Gripping Snape's arm gruffly, he kicked him out of the Shack and just as Snape whirled around to face him, James aimed his wand directly at his chest.

"Get out. Now."

Snape shook his head in loathing and disbelief.

"Wait, until Dumbledore hears about this."

"I just saved your bloody life!"

"You think this was a selfless act? You just got cold feet from another one of your ridiculous pranks. You were saving your own bloody life as much as mine. When Dumbledore ears about this, you'll be out of this castle before you can say…_werewolf."_

James gritted his teeth and jabbed his wand into Snape's chest.

"Move it or both our bloody lives are going to be over."

Snape began to move down the passageway.

"You tried to kill me, you arrogant, cocky…" he trailed off with more unprintable words to call James. James followed quietly, careful not to make Remus aware of how close they were.

Snape had run into the castle to get Dumbledore.

Sirius was in a state when he met James halfway up the passageway.

James had little to say to him right now having risked many lives that night.

He had no problem being mad at Sirius because he knew that it would hardly matter in a course of a few days. All he wanted to do right now was sleep although he knew that would be a hard thing to accomplish.

Would Dumbledore actually expel them? Would he expel Sirius? No. James thought. He would stand up for his best friend. He's rather be expel then see Sirius be sent back to Grimmauld.

He would never admit it to Sirius or Peter but he was damn glad Lily was all right.

She had no idea how much danger she put herself in trying to save Snape's own skin. He wasn't worth it. James spent the rest of the night wondering that if Snape wasn't worth it, then why did he save him?

That night, Kelsey and I lay awake, wondering what had happened after James went after Snape. Lily was already asleep.

"I bet Dumbledore is going to have to talk to all of us tomorrow," I predicted. Kelsey nodded.

"I bet,"

There was quiet silence.

"Poor Remus," Kelsey whispered sadly before going to sleep.

Remus. Man, will he be pissed. What was gonna happen tomorrow?

Top of Form

Bottom of Form


	14. After Shock

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.

Chapter 14: After Shock

The sun shone into the dormitory brightly, baking down on my face. There was the loud ringing, telling all the students to start getting up, making me jump up straight.

After what had happened last night, I had gotten a major migraine. I blinked my eyes adjusting to the light and looked over a Kelsey. She was known for her common headaches and apparently, she had one too. I rubbed at my temples slowly and groaned with lack of sleep. We had been in the Whomping Willow until WAY after hours and I barely had enough sleep.

Stretching my sore bones, I slowly flipped my legs over the edge of the bed. I blew the hair out of my face, and bent down in my trunk for a clean uniform. I glanced at Lily and Kelsey.

They smiled weakly before immediately concentrating back on their clothes.

"Where were you three last night? You didn't come in to the dorm until I was asleep," Cecily asked us.

Lily's head shot up.

Kelsey jerked her head away from people's sight.

I bit my lip painfully.

"We were…talking to Professor Dumbledore! We needed to ask him something. I can't even remember what!" Lily said, trying to laugh.

Kelsey and I "laughed" with her and nodded quickly. The other's nodded and laughed too.

I looked nervously at Lily and Kelsey. They looked quite relived. As was I.

We made our way out into the courtyard towards the Great Hall. We decided we needed some sunshine, so we took the long way. I was still completely shaken by what had happened last night.

Lily seemed just as shaken once she had realized it was never a dream.

The three of us were rather quiet during the walk outside. We passed the Whomping Willow as usual.

I glanced at it, trying to act like I was just looking at it like everyone else did, but every time I looked at those flailing branches I would just shiver.

Being close to it, let alone NEAR it was incredibly frightening and Lily and Kelsey agreed with me.

"Look at that thing," Cecily said nodding towards the Willow. "That thing could blow someone to pieces." You have no idea, I thought to myself.

"I know really! What is it doing there anyways? I mean, that little boy the other year nearly got his eye popped out! Who would WANT to go near that thing!" Alice said.

Cecily nodded in agreement.

"Can't imagine," I said hoarsely. "Let's get to the Great Hall, I'm starving!" I added, changing the subject.

I rushed ahead, leaving the others confused a few feet behind me.

I hurried into the Great Hall, flushed in my cheeks. The others caught up with me a second later.

"Let's sit right there," Alice said, pointing to a free space at the Gryffindor table. We sat down quickly, helping ourselves to some food.

Kelsey, Lily and I were again silent during the meal pretending to giggle and smile at what the others were saying. I was talking to Alice when someone accidentally slammed into my shoulder.

"OW! Hey!" I exclaimed, turning around quickly at who had collided into me. It was Sirius. He had been bumped back slightly from the impact, but kept walking.

"Oh, sorry," he said quickly before turning back to James and Peter. Remus must still be in the Hospital Wing.

Lily and Kelsey glanced at the Marauders, but quickly whirled back to their plates as they passed.

My brow involuntarily creased. OH SORRY? OH SORRY! After what had happened at the Whomping Willow with a werewolf, Snape and all that terrifying stuff, they pass as if it never happened! The nerve after the horror I had experienced and all I get is an Oh, SORRY!

Lily looked at me with an expression of the same feeling I had. I shrugged with frustration.

Professor McGonagall clinked her knife against her goblet. This was the cue to start heading to your first class. Getting up, we all started for the door, when I felt a hard tap on my left shoulder.

I turned around to see McGonagall's pursed lips and deep, strict eyes staring down at me. Kelsey and Lily had stopped too. McGonagall turned to the others.

"Move along to your first class, I'd like to speak to Miss Evans, Jistel and Lefave alone please." She said. Alice and Cecily shrugged and hurried toward Defense Against the Dark Arts.

When they were out of earshot, Professor McGonagall pointed down a corridor.

"Professor Dumbledore is waiting for the three of you in his office. Not to worry, you are not in trouble. Now, follow me," she said sternly, turning swiftly down the corridor making the three of us nearly have to run after her.

She stopped in front of a statue of what looked like a hippogriff.

"Baffledum," she exclaimed, hands raised towards the statue.

Instantly, the statue began to turn, revealing a staircase at the top as the statue stairs rose. Kelsey leaped onto the staircase.

Lily and I followed. When the staircase came to a stop, we were standing in front of a large, wooden door. We stood there for a long moment.

"Go on," I whispered to Lily. "He doesn't bite," Lily nodded and hesitantly pushed open the door.

The door swung to reveal a MASSIVE room filled with things I've never even seen of before. Fawkes squawked in the most intriguing way possible.

"Cool..." Kelsey gasped in awe. Strangely, Dumbledore was not in the room, which made me more nervous.

"Ah, I've been waiting for you three," came a voice from the top of a small staircase by Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling as usual. The three of us stood there nervously.

"Please, sit down," Dumbledore said, gesturing to three chars in front of his desk. We quickly sat down, looking down into our laps.

There was another awkward silence until Professor Dumbledore spoke up.  
"I was informed by Mister Snape of what happened last night," he began.

The three of us instantly jumped into explanations, but Dumbledore held up his hand to silence us.

"I am not angry with you all. You did a VERY brave thing, besides quite frankly being a Gryffindor and saving a Slytherin," he said. Lily shrugged.

"I wouldn't say we were technically SAVING Snape, Professor. It's my fault actually. Caroline heard Sirius and I just didn't want anything to happen-"  
"I understand," Dumbledore interrupted. "As I would have done the same thing. And because of that, I'm awarding 50 points to each of you." He declared. Lily, Kelsey and I brightened up a little.

"Did anything strange happen down there in the shack?" he asked. Lily shook her head.

"James Potter turned up. I guess he knew how to get into the Whomping Willow," she said.

"He looked awfully worried, Professor. He went into the Willow after he made us come back up to the castle. Sirius wasn't that far behind him." Kelsey said. Dumbledore nodded.

"I see. I thank you. You may go back to class. And from what you've told me, Sirius Black and James Potter had a great deal to do with this, naturally. I'll have Professor McGonagall send them to me. Thank you again."

Dumbledore told us as we made our way towards the door. We nodded and hurried out. Lily stopped me once we had gotten down into the corridor.  
"Is Potter going to get in trouble?"

"I don't know. What do you ask?"

"No reason. I was just wondering." She said quietly.

I glanced at Kelsey.

"Sirius will naturally." She added quickly. "But I have to ask you…"

"What?"

"Why would Snape want to go to the Whomping Willow? Why would Sirius send him there? It's dangerous obviously, but he got into that passageway so what exactly is the sense or importance of it? What could possibly be down there?"

I thought quickly but I couldn't think of any excuse.

"That's just it. There is no sense to it. It was just a prank." I said.

Lily nodded and we continued to Defense Against the Dark Arts.


	15. Bellatrix's Prank

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.  
  
A/N: ALL READERS MUST READ THIS! I knew from the start I had WAAAY to many girls in Caroline and Kelsey's dormitory, so I'm taking out all of them except Cecily and Alice. Okay, now that that's out of the way, enjoy! And sorry or the LOOONG hiatus.  
  
Chapter 15: Bellatrix's Prank  
  
Kelsey, Lily and I hurried down the hallway toward Potions. Kelsey glanced through the small window on the door that went into the room and grimaced.  
"Ugh, Remus is out of the hospital Wing." I let out a little sigh.  
"Damn. He'll hate us. He's very sensitive about being a werewolf and the potential he could have to kill anyone," I explained. Lily looked at a large clock on the wall.  
"Well, the class is almost over. I guess we could walk slowly to the Great Hall for "lunch." The bell is bound to ring by then," she suggested. Kelsey and I nodded.  
Just as we thought, the bell rang half way to the Great Hall. Sitting down, it wasn't long before students began to hungrily storm in. Soon enough, Alice and Cecily came hurrying in. Slamming their books onto the table, they helped themselves to some lunch.  
"Where did you three go during Potions?" Alice asked.  
"Dumbledore's office," Lily answered. Cecily and Alice were intrigued.  
"What did he want?" Cecily asked. The three of us were silent, unsure on what to say.  
"Confidential. Sorry, guys." Kelsey said. Lily and I nodded. Cecily and Alice shrugged. Suddenly, something slammed into me. I was shoved forward but I caught myself before my face landed in my meal. I turned around and glared at Bellatrix Black who was grinning stupidly.  
"Look what the cat dragged in," Alice said. Cecily, Lily and Kelsey snickered but stopped at Bellatrix's cold glare.  
"Did you need something Black? Or did you just decide that you had the brilliant idea to bump into me? I must say, it's was a SUCH a mature thing to do," I said sarcastically. Bellatrix smirked.  
"You could put it that way," she said and walked away. I turned back to the table.  
"That was uber-weird," Kelsey said. This was also weird since Kelsey never said uber but it didn't matter. I nodded and threw my hands up.  
"Does she NOT know that I hate her? Does she actually have the urge to bump into me of all things? It's just stupid." I exclaimed. Lily shrugged.  
"We're talking about Bellatrix Black here. She twisted up in the attic," she said, motioning to her brain. We laughed. We ate silently, until Alice spoke up.  
"What do you think they talk about?" she whispered, pointing at James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. They were leaning in really close and talking in a low whisper.  
"Ah, now you see. They are also twisted in the attic. That's why their heads are so big. It's full of secrets." Lily said. I laughed loudly. Kelsey crossed her arms.  
"Not Remus. He's not "twisted" and does not have a big head," she said confidently. We all turned and stared at her and rolled our eyes.  
"Kelsey, if you're so totally in love with him or whatever, just ask him out!" Cecily said simply.  
"SHH!" Kelsey said harshly. "No, I can't. Ugh, that would be soo embarrassing!" I nodded in agreement. I couldn't ask a guy out either. Suddenly, I heard a quiet cracking sound.  
"Do you hear that?" I asked the other four. We all became quiet and listened. The cracking noise came again. Lily looked around.  
"Where's it coming from?" The crack came again, this time louder. We all looked up at the ceiling. "Whoa!" Cecily exclaimed. There was a HUGE crack in the ceiling and it was growing. "Oh my god, it's going to collapse!" Lily said. And instantaneously, the small section of the ceiling crumbled. The chunks of stone began to fall! Screaming, all four of us jumped safely out of the way. Students around us, dove out of the way while the Great Hall became apprehensively quiet. I let out a sigh of relief. I looked up again, but it was too late. Enormous amounts of green, jell-o like goop began to ooze out the freshly cracked stone hole. "Holy crap!" Alice exclaimed, echoing through the hall. The slime dripped down to the table in massive dollops spraying all five us with the goop. It continued to fall, splattering the table, our clothes and bodies. Suddenly, the goop disappeared. All the students turned toward the teachers' table. Dumbledore had his wand raised, destroying the green slime from the hall. I looked at Lily, Kelsey, Cecily and Alice. They were dripping the green goop, as was I. It was cold and gross and squished between my shoes and greased my hair into slimy, dripping chunks. It was disgusting. The entire Slytherin table was laughing hysterically.  
"Ew, Ew, Ew," Cecily whispered, shakily. Lily whirled toward Sirius, James, Peter and Remus.  
"POTTER!" she yelled angrily. James was taken aback and raised his hands in mock surrender.  
"Hey, hey! It wasn't us!" he said. Lily let out a "HA!".  
"Oh, I bet!" She said sarcastically. I turned toward the Slytherin table. Bellatrix and her posse were laughing louder than everyone else, besides her boyfriend Rodulphus Lestrange and his friends-including Snape. Bellatrix gave me a look that summed up everything.  
"Lily, it wasn't them." I said, nodding toward Bellatrix. Shaking the goop off my hands, I glared at Bellatrix and then turned toward the others.  
"This is war. If she wants to prank, so can we." I said to Kelsey, Lily, Alice and Cecily. I glanced at James, Remus, Peter and Sirius.  
"And Slytherins don't have them." The four others laughed before we hurried out the door to the common room to clean up.  
  
Later that night, I was reading my DADA homework when The Marauders came stomping down from their dormitory, laughing. Slamming my book shut, I hurried toward them.  
"Hey! Guys!" I said, getting their attention. They turned around and gave me their trademark grins. I would have passed out but regained myself.  
  
"You guys need to do me a HUGE favor and you are the only ones who could possibly do it." I said. The four of them looked quite excited. Sirius crossed his arms.  
"Which is?" he said, raising an eyebrow, trying to act casually bored. I rolled my eyes.  
"Okay, if you didn't KNOW already, Mr. Smart Alleck, that little prank during lunch was Bellatrix's and she's out to get me or something, so I need to bounce back. And since you four are the epitome of pranksters, could you pull a prank on Bellatrix for me? Please?" I asked. NOW, they were all interested.  
"Sure, no problem!," James said, grinning mischievously. I grinned back.  
"BUT, you have to come up with something new, fresh, and elaborate! It has to be big! Make it so good, that it'll make her never want to get out of bed for the rest of her god forsaken life!" I explained. James raised an eyebrow in the identical way Sirius had. Geez, they could seriously be brothers.  
"We'll see what we can do," he teased with a wink. And with, that they walked off. When they were gone, I slumped into an easy chair.  
"Why do they do that me? Couldn't they be a bit less hot?" I thought with a laugh. That's impossible. Bellatrix better watch out. 


	16. Exams

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by the brilliant J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is solely for entertainment.  
  
A/N: Again, everyone must read this. Okay, just so u know, there's a scene in this that is A LOT like a scene in another fan fiction, Priori Incantatem. And if the author or anyone who has read it, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it. By the way, if u haven't read Priori, it's one of my faves! Chapter 16: Exams  
  
The weather had become so hot, I was thankful for the upcoming exams we would take after breakfast. From the vibe in the Great Hall, practically all the students were dreading today's exams, specifically the 7th years who were taking their N.E.W.T.S to graduate. Just as I suspected, James and Sirius weren't the hard-core studiers Remus was, but, of course they'll do good anyways. Remus was sitting at the table doing some last minute studying. Peter was pouring over his own books with a confused expression. It almost made me cackle evilly and hope he does horrible but at the same time I felt sorry for him (as much as I didn't want to, the bastard). Kelsey, Alice, Cecily, Lily and I had brought along our books to the table to quiz each other. As much to the others shock, I was excited about the exams. There was something about it that intrigued me. Hell, its better then math tests. Seriously, would I rather pick science exam or Charms? Charms! The scary thing was, I've been in Hogwarts for a YEAR already, or it felt like it and I had already forgotten a lot of the math I'd known. If I ever get back to the real world, Muggle-2003 or 2004, I'll know nothing! I knew more about Charms and Transfiguration now then History (which was my favorite subject). The only problem was that since I technically haven't been going to Hogwarts, there were many things I had no idea about that the others had learned in their first, third (or whatever) year. Let's just hope I pass.  
Professor McGonagall tapped loudly on her goblet to get the Hall's attention. All of the students hushed down as Dumbledore stood up.  
"I hope you all are prepared for the exams today," he said chuckling. Many students groaned.  
"First and second years will be taking the exams in the Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms rooms. Third and Fourth will be in the two Potions rooms, fifth and sixth years will be here in the Great Hall and the seventh years will be in the Transfiguration room. You may go back to the common rooms until we are ready to begin. Good luck to you all!" Dumbledore finished, smiling with a twinkle in his eyes.  
"Luck is right," Cecily said. Kelsey, Lily, Alice and I laughed in agreement. We went back to the common room with all the other Gryffindors and hurried up to the dormitory.  
"Rememer whuh happned last yeer Leely?" Alice said while brushing her teeth. We were lounging in the girls' dormitory until the bell rang to go down to the Great Hall.  
"Yeah, after O.W.L.S." Cecily added on. Lily rolled her eyes.  
"It was stupid, what was I thinking?" Lily said. Kelsey glanced at me. Was this what Harry saw in the Penisive in OOTP? I had no doubt in my mind that it was. I went along with it.  
"They were being jerks. They deserved what they got. Maybe you went a BIT too far, Lily." I said laughing. Lily shrugged. Almost instantly, there was a melodic bell chime ring through must have been the whole castle. Cecily drew in a breath. "God, already?!" Alice said, washing her face. Quickly, she dried it off and we walked down into the common room and through the Fat Lady portrait.  
"Good luck, Girls!" she bellowed out as we walked through.  
"Thank you!" Lily said sweetly before we ran off down the corridor. Arriving in the Great Hall, we gathered with MANY other 5th and 6th years. Just like in dueling, the four tables had disappeared and were replaced with tons of individual desks. Each desk had a small stack of parchment and a quill. In OOTP, it was Flitwick who had been the supervisor, so to speak but this year, it was McGonagall.  
"Great." I heard a 5th year say beside me. McGonagall cleared her throat. The massive room's echo ceased quickly and all eyes turned to McGonagall.  
"I will assign to all seats. And I must remind you that we have put anti-cheating spells on the quills so I wouldn't try to cheat if I were you. Please stay quiet and still, so assigning seats will go a lot easier." She said in her usual curt, stern voice.  
After about 30 minutes, only a few students were still getting their seats. I sat in the front row, facing Kelsey who was on the other side of the two halves of desks. McGonagall then marched down the aisle between the two sets of desks to her own desk that had been set up for her.  
"Alright, you will have a limited amount of time to finish so work very, very hard." McGonagall said, flicking her wand. Magically, our exam questions and essay prompts appeared on our desk.  
"You may begin now." She said and immediately, our quills stabbed at the parchment. Now, usually, when I was in the Muggle world, I used at pen or pencil because of those retarded scantrons, but now I've had to become accustomed to using a quill. At first, it wasn't easy. You have to write really fast before the ink runs out. Luckily, I had mastered the use of quills. I looked down at the first question.  
"GIVE TWO EXAMPLES OF WHY POTIONS IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW"  
I groaned inwardly. What kind of question is that?! I thought of something in the back of my head and wrote it down before I thought twice.  
Nina Fiddleson, a Ravenclaw 5th year snorted proudly beside me as if she found her response to a question rather clever and funny. I glanced at James who sat about two seats down from me. He was writing lazily looking EXTREMELY bored. Go figure. I quickly did the next seven questions since they were easy and well, they had been mentioned in the Harry Potter books. AGAIN, I spaced out and had the quick urge to glance at Snape. Just as I suspected, his hooked nose was touching into table and his gel pen-esque hair flopped wetly upon the table as he scribbled aggressively. I blinked back to my paper.  
"Don't space out." And with that, I concentrated on my exam. -ABOUT, OH...2 HOURS LATER...  
Finally, I finished my last essay. I sat back and stretched. God, this has got to be the longest test I'd ever done! I had 3 questions left. I looked around the room. The only noise was the scattered scratching of quills. There were two very, very quiet whispering voices. So quiet, it was as if they were mouthing the words but u could faintly hear them.  
"Black, Potter!" McGonagall's voice split into the silence. Many looked up but instantly went back to work. I looked behind me where Sirius sat a few rows away. Remus's head rose too. He rolled his eyes and went back to his exam. Sirius glanced at me and shrugged as if he had no idea why McGonagall had said his name. I rolled my eyes as well and went back to my last three questions.  
Just as I finished the very last sentence, McGonagall spoke again.  
"Alright, finish your last sentence. Accio tests!" My parchment curled up on its own and flew into a basket. (Much more gracefully then Flitwick the year before). I looked at Kelsey hoping that she had finished completely. Kelsey usually never finished a test, specifically math, in time of the class period. From the look on her face, she seemed pretty content with her exam.  
"You have the rest of the day off. Lunch is at normal time. You're dismissed." Immediately, everyone jumped up and rushed toward the door. I grabbed by book bag and met up with Kelsey, Lily, Cecily and Alice.  
"How do you think you did?" Cecily asked. We all shrugged.  
"I think I did pretty well," Kelsey said. I nodded. We walked out to the lake, thanking the day for having such great weather. We sat down by the lake with several other girls from different houses. I scanned the area and just as I thought, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were hanging out under that tree. Hopefully, they wouldn't pull off what they did when Harry saw them in the Penicive. I hated when Lily and James fought. It drove me crazy!  
The bell rang for lunch about 20 minutes later and I was so glad Snape wasn't around. I was so hungry I could eat Hagrid! Erm, that's a figure of speech. We sat down at the Gryffindor table and I helped myself to a rather large serving of mashed potatoes (LOL) and a big glass of pumpkin juice. The Marauders didn't sit that far from us. Kelsey ate a few bites and then got up.  
"Oh, gosh, I forgot. I have to go ask McGonagall about last week's homework," She left the table and hurried up to the teacher table. Alice looked around me toward the Hufflepuff table.  
"I knew it!" she said. We looked to where she was looking.  
"What?"  
"Lockhart! You know, that really annoying, yet hot Hufflepuff? He's had his eye on Kelsey since like, the beginning of the year! I noticed like last week. Look, he keeps looking at her!" she said, giggling.  
"Lockhart. Meaning Gilderoy Lockhart?!" I asked. Alice nodded. I burst out laughing. The others looked confused.  
"Oh, nothing," I said in between breaths. Alice laughed too.  
"I swear, it is just so weird—oh my god, what is he doing?" her jaw dropped. I whirled around. Kelsey was coming back down toward our table, but took the long way around the Hufflepuff table. Gilderoy Lockhart had gotten up. He caught up with her and she turned around, looking very confused.  
"Oh MY GOD... what the hell is he doing?" Lily said out loud, gaping. The Marauders had looked up and we staring at Lockhart and Kelsey too. Pretty soon, nearly the whole Great Hall was watching them. Kelsey's back to me, but she looked over her shoulder at us, her eyes wide. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. What could I say? Lockhart seemed to be talking, but Kelsey hardly seemed to be listening. She looked over her shoulder again, realizing that everyone seemed to be watching, and eyed us frantically. Suddenly, Lockhart started to yell so that the whole Great Hall could hear.  
"Oh, god, I can't look!" Cecily said, covering her face in her hands, but making sure that she could see a little.  
"ATTENION!" Lockhart began. The whole Great Hall became silent with a few murmurs. "I WOULD LIKE TO SAY FOR YOU ALL TO HEAR HOW MUCH I LIKE KELSEY JISTEL AND THAT THE LOVELY AND HANDSOME YOURS TRULY WOULD LIKE TO ASK HER TO THE LAST HOGSMEADE TRIP!" he said. Kelsey had turned beet red. The last time I saw that tone of red was when our friend Camille sang happy birthday to her really loud all alone in the cafeteria in 8th grade. Besides being completely embarrassed, she looked absolutely disgusted. I glanced at Remus. He had turned away slightly, much like Cecily.  
"WILL YOU GO WITH ME?" Gilderoy said extra loud. Some Hufflepuff girls glowered at Kelsey and gasped with envy. All eyes turned to her. Kelsey looked absolutely appalled.  
"EW! No!" Kelsey said, not quite as loud. The Great Hall burst in gasps and giggles. The Marauders, Lily, Cecily, Alice and I gasped. Sirius just laughed hysterically. Gilderoy sucked in his cheeks. He had never been turned down before. And with that, he sat down. Kelsey glanced at me and hurried out of the Great Hall in complete embarrassment. I turned to Remus and made eye contact with him. I nodded toward the Great Hall doors. At first, he didn't seem to understand, I nodded again toward the direction Kelsey had left.  
"No... I can't just—"he began. "GO!" I said. He threw up his hands.  
"Fine, fine," he got up and hurried after her. I turned toward Lily.  
"Alright!" she exclaimed. We high-fived and went back to eating.  
  
Kelsey walked with her head down as she hurried up to the common room.  
"Hey! Kelsey!" came a voice behind her. Kelsey sucked in a breath and whirled around. It was Remus.  
"Hey," she said when he had caught up with her.  
"Hi, um, I was just wondering if you were okay. Ya know, after that thing." He said. Kelsey rubbed her forehead.  
"I'm fine I guess. That was just horrible though! I wouldn't be surprised if I'll be the gossip topic for a week," she said, half laughing. Remus nodded and smiled.  
"Okay, well...um, I'll see you later then" he said and turned. Kelsey slumped her shoulders and nodded. He took about two steps before he turned around again.  
"Ya, know. I actually wanted to ask you something." He said. Kelsey straightened up.  
"Um, if Lockhart, is out of the picture. Obviously. Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked, a bit shyly. Kelsey's heart leapt!  
"Are you serious?!" she said excitedly.  
"Actually, I'm Remus," he said joking. Kelsey rolled her eyes and grinned.  
"Yes! Of course! Sure!" Kelsey exclaimed. Remus smiled. This was probably the first person who he had asked who didn't care of what he is.  
  
A/N: I know sorry. Slight cliffhanger there. Lol! Actually, now I have a poll for u guys. All my friends want Caroline to end up with Sirius and all that, but I'm not sure. So, tell me if she should or shouldn't. By the way, tell your friends about my story pleeze! I would like sum more reviews! Okay, well, I'll try to update soon! BUBI! 


	17. Hogsmeade

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by the brilliant J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is solely for entertainment.  
  
Chapter 17: Hogsmeade  
  
Of course, to the dismay of Kelsey-Alice, Lily, Cecily and I beat the information out of her and finally cracked her into telling us. I was so incredibly happy for Kelsey; I was the loudest out of them all from the yelp of excitement. Ever since I can remember, the one character that Kelsey was so obsessed with was Remus. This was definitely a milestone in our little journey in the wizarding world. We teased Kelsey mercilessly which surprisingly didn't seem to bother her at all. This was not at all like Kelsey but I was too excited to care.  
"Kelsey, you have to tell us EXACTLY what happened! Hopefully this date to Hogsmeade won't be has hellish as your last one." Lily said winking. The others grimaced at some sort of thought. Kelsey raised her eyebrows.  
"Last one?" she asked. Lily rolled her eyes.  
"Well, good for you, honey. At least you're trying to forget." She said. Kelsey shrugged.  
"What happened? Who was he?" she asked.  
"This Hufflepuff guy. God, I don't even remember his name. Anyway, you went to Hogsmeade with him and it went awful!" Cecily exclaimed, "He was such an impolite eater. He must have splattered you with food like, ten times! What a sod!" Kelsey grimaced along with the rest of us.  
"I don't remember what happened after that actually." Alice said, thinking hard. She then smiled and patted Kelsey's shoulder.  
"Don't worry. We ALWAYS knew Lupin had the hots for you. It drove us crazy that he wouldn't say anything! Nothing's going to happen this date. He's the epitome of polite." She said. I nodded in agreement.  
Finally, at about 1:00 am, we went to bed, very excited about the tomorrow's trip.  
  
Shockingly, we were all up on the dot and went down to breakfast together along with the rest of the student body. We were to leave for Hogsmeade after breakfast. Today was louder than usual since this was the last trip until the end of the school year. School ended in five days! When the majority of Hogwarts had finished their breakfast, Kelsey rushed out to go brush her teeth for the eleventh time (maybe another coat of lip-stick as well. Kelsey and I learned well off that lip GLOSS was not a popular essential in the seventies). Kelsey met the four of us in the front hall with the other students. When Professor McGonagall had checked us off the list, we hurried into the first carriage together. Cecily burst out laughing as she pointed out a sulking Gilderoy Lockhart walking with his own posse. He had definitely not been turned down before.  
It wasn't long before we had already arrived into the village, the horses trotting uncomfortably too fast. The snow had melted and some of the flowers from the spring were drying up. The sun was beating down but there was a nice breeze as well. As usual, the village was bustling with people looking for little goodies or whatever. I personally thought that Hogsmeade was the coolest place on Earth besides Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. The five of us pushed our way through the massive amount of students rushing into the village.  
"Hey, Caroline, will you come with me to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop? I'm all out of quills and we have that essay due tomorrow..." Lily asked. She glanced at Kelsey and smiled.  
"Where are you meeting Remus?" she asked. Kelsey nodded toward the Three Broomsticks.  
"Go on then! We don't want to embarrass you! We'll meet up with you later," Lily exclaimed. Kelsey smiled nervously.  
"Wish me luck!" she said before running off. When she was out of ear shot, Alice sighed.  
"Man, remind me over the summer to get a boyfriend," she said delusional. Cecily burst out into giggles.  
"Me too..." she said in an even more dreamy voice.  
"God, me three!" Lily said seriously. I lifted an eyebrow.  
"What about Jam—"  
"Don't push it, Caroline."  
"Sorry."  
  
While Cecily and Alice decided to go to Dervish and Banges, Lily and I went into the quill shop. It was quite an interesting store. From the floor to the ceiling, the store was full of all kinds of quills. I decided to buy a very cool, hot pink quill with a little C emblem on the tip. Lily grabbed a few normal white ones for next year and a very special quill she had seen last time, but had already spent all her money. It was blue and purple with a tint of gold and what Lily told me, she was "drawn to it."  
We were walking along the cobblestone streets, not really looking where we were going when WHAM!!!!!!  
It was a huge impact, but fortunately, saving our embarrassment, neither I nor Lily tripped or fell.  
"Whoa, sorry Lily, didn't see you there," Lily whirled around.  
"Well, don't we have a tendency to RUN into you Potter?!" Lily exclaimed, irritated. I sighed. Of course, it HAD to be Sirius, James and Peter who ran right into US (specifically Lily).  
"It's good to see you too," Sirius said sarcastically. Lily rolled her eyes.  
"C'mon Caroline," she said grumpily. We started to walk away when I stopped and turned around.  
"What are you guys doing anyways?"  
The three of them looked at each other and scoffed. James seemed to be hiding in a grin.  
"We were going to see Remus," he said.  
"Remus is on a date with—"then I gasped.  
"OHHHH no! Don't you dare!" I said coldly.  
"Dare?! Dare what?!" Lily said. Sirius gave a little lopsided grin and waved. The three of them sprinted off down the street, fat little Peter trying to catch up.  
"You better not pull ANYTHING!" I yelled. I cursed and ran after them.  
"DO they ALWAYS pull pranks on their best friends?!" I yelled behind me toward Lily.  
"Is that what they're doing?!! This is Kelsey's date!" Lily yelled and ran to catch up with me.  
"I know," I breathed. Lily opened the door to The Three Broomsticks only to find that none of them were in there. Lily went up to the counter.  
"Madame Rosmerta?" she asked to a curvy, attractive woman. 'So this was Madame Rosmerta....' I thought. Madame Rosmerta turned around and smiled revealing very white, straight teeth.  
"Lily dear! I was hoping you would come in soon! And you too, Miss Lefave! What can I do for you?" she exclaimed. Lily smiled.  
"Yeah, did James Potter and Sirius Black happen to come in here a few minutes ago?"  
  
Madame Rosmerta laughed and nodded.  
"Yes dear! They left no less then a minute ago, I swear! Merlin, do those boys make me laugh!" she said fondly. Lily grinned.  
"Yeah..." she faltered, "You didn't happen to see which way they went did you?" Madame Rosmerta nodded and pointed out the door and to the left. Lily thanked her and we hurried out the door.  
"What do you think they plan on doing?" I asked. I had never seen "the Marauders" at work, so to speak, and did not know what to expect.  
"No clue. They always come up with something different," Lily said as we walked briskly in the direction Madame Rosmerta pointed out. We started to walk along the lake looking for any sign of a certain "trio".  
"Caroline? Lily?" a voice came from behind us. I narrowed my eyes in confusion as I turned around to see...Kelsey and Remus. 'God, they were soooo cute together...' I thought but then jumped back to reality.  
"Hey!" I exclaimed glancing at Lily.  
"What are you doing here?" Kelsey said suspiciously. We had told her earlier we wouldn't spy on them but she wouldn't believe us.  
"Oh, we were just looking for... You haven't 'met up' with Sirius, James or Peter in the last minute, have you?" Lily asked. We were both a tad bit confused. None of them had found Kelsey and Remus yet? That was highly unlikely. Sirius and James had eyes like an eagle. We looked around nervously. Remus shrugged.  
"I haven't seen them since I got out of the carriage. Why?" he asked. Lily rubbed the back of her neck.  
"Nothing, we just ran into-"  
"Moony!" came yet another voice from behind us. We turned to see, of course, James and Sirius.  
"Hey..." Remus said cautiously as if they might blow up if he touched them (A/N: That was NOT a naughty thought FYI). The two of them both took a slight step back from us, but no one really noticed except me.  
"We were looking for you! See how it was going," James said, winking at them. Now, Kelsey was confused (which was definitely NOT unusual).  
"Okay..." Remus hesitated again giving them a cold yet confused look. Lily was about to say something when suddenly and VERY abruptly the ground shifted from under us, jerking us off our feet! Since James and Sirius had stepped back, they were not standing on that certain space of ground. (You wonder why...) Out of reflex, I grabbed Sirius's robe and apparently, Lily grabbed James's to try to stay from falling. We both slipped, bumping into Kelsey and Remus. The four of us tumbled backwards into the lake! Sirius and James were jerked forward when we grabbed them and fell in literally on top of us. Lily let out a yell of surprise when she hit the water and James falling on top of her added to it. I was still holding on to Sirius's shirt, but when I hit the water I let go. Sirius cursed quite loudly before hitting the water. The water was horrendously cold and I swam to the surface as quickly as possible. I let out a gasp of air as Kelsey bobbed up beside me.  
"Oh my god..." Lily gasped, most likely from the temperature.  
The six of us were treading water silently, not really sure what to do.  
"Well, this is refreshing for a hot June afternoon," Sirius said brightly.  
"Oh, shut up. This is all you and James's fault!" Lily said, glaring at him.  
"It was not our fault. If you hadn't grabbed our robes, we could have kept you from falling!" James exclaimed.  
"Oh yeah, you're a real lifesaver," Lily growled angrily, obviously not believing him. Sirius swam toward the edge and held onto a rock. It wasn't that much of a distance from where they fell.  
"I think I have an idea," he announced.  
"What a relief," Remus said sarcastically. He wasn't too happy about any of this either. Sirius took out his wand. Unfortunately, all our wands were soaked, but since, - hey, hey, hey- we're in magic land, it wasn't a problem. He pointed it, toward where he thought was Hogwarts. "Accio broom!" he yelled. A blue shock came out of him wand. He had never summoned his broom from this far, and he hoped it worked. We waited silently, unsure what was happening.  
"Why did you summon your-?" Remus was about to ask, but paused when an increasingly louder whistling noise seemed to be getting closer and closer. We all looked up to see a broomstick hovering above us. It lowered until Sirius was able to reach it. He held onto the rock to keep his broom from falling in the water.  
"Okay, here's what I was thinking. We'll have each of you fly yourself up to the edge, then you'll drop the broom back to me and the next person will fly up. James and I will go last." He explained. Kelsey and I exchanged nervous glances. Neither of us had ever ridden a broom before. Sirius seemed to note the nervousness in our faces.  
"Don't worry. Just push up and lean foreword a bit, then when you get up there, push down and you'll land. It's not hard, I promise." Kelsey and I nodded. Lily nodded too.  
"Okay, Caroline, you go first." He said. I exhaled and swam over to him.  
"You won't be able to kick off with the broom floating in the water. Here." He swiveled to the other side of the broom.  
"There's a rock underneath. You can mount and push off on that." He said. I nodded and stepped onto the rock. I twisted my leg over so I sat comfortably on the broom.  
"Okay, hold on to it and push off when you're ready." Sirius explained. I looked behind me at Kelsey, who gave me one of those excited, but you-could-die looks. I looked up and closing my eyes, I pushed up hard. My stomach lurched as the broom soared upward into the breeze. It was even colder outside the water, but I was too distracted to care. Flying on a broomstick was one of the most liberating things I had ever experienced. I leaned foreword a little, like Sirius told me, and I flew foreword until I could tell I was going to land on the ground. In the mist of my excitement, I did a double flip before landing on the ground. I walked over to the edge. I was smiling from the ride and Sirius laughed when he saw my face.  
"Fun, wasn't it?" he said, grinning. I nodded.  
"You're a really good flyer! That was the coolest flip you just did!" he said. I shrugged.  
"I didn't even know I could do it!" I said, smiling.  
"Okay, just drop the broom down and I'd prefer if you'd try not to drop it directly on top of me," he said. I dropped it carefully towards his hand and his reflexes caught it mid-air. I waited up there as Lily flew up, then Kelsey (who looked quite white afterwards), then Remus went and James after him. Sirius flew up last. We were all drenched and our black robes didn't exactly help. We had our uniforms underneath, but great for us girls, we had white shirts on, so we thought it was best we kept our robes on. The guys took there robes off, and their uniforms were as drenched as their robes. (To my hormonal giddiness, they had white shirts on too wink). Soon after that, it was announced that Hogwarts students report back to the carriages. James, Sirius and Remus went off to find Peter who had wimped out of their prank (which they confessed) and left the three of us trudging toward the carriages. Alice and Cecily caught up with us only to be shocked at we were soaked from head to toe.  
"What happened? Kelsey too? What about your date?" they asked.  
"It's a long story, we'll explain later." Kelsey said as we got into the carriage.  
  
Classes ended and the last day of school came so fast it made my head spin. We were saying our goodbyes, when Kelsey pulled me aside.  
"What about us?" she asked. I narrowed my eyes.  
"What ABOUT us?"  
"Where are we going for the summer?" she asked. I hadn't thought about it.  
"Oh, gosh...we'd better see Dumbledore." I said. We turned to Cecily, Alice and Lily.  
"We'll catch up with you guys later. We need to talk to Dumbledore for a second." Kelsey said and we hurried toward his office. We knew where it was, but we didn't realize we didn't know the password until we got there.  
"Crap." Kelsey said.  
"Ah! Caroline, Kelsey. I expected I find you looking for me," came the old voice behind us. We were about to explain to Dumbledore, but he said it for us.  
"Yes, I'm sure you're wondering where you're going to go. Well, my green mistifiers will work well in this situation. I'll send you to September where you'll find yourself at the Hogwarts Express. It will feel like say...2 seconds to you, but you've really past through two months. He waved to us and swirled his wand until we were circled in the same green mist we experienced a year ago. I closed my eyes and reached our Kelsey's arm, but couldn't find it. With an impact, we landed on stone ground and the mist disappeared. We were in kind of a enclosed space but a wide opening showed us the bright red sign of the HOGWARTS EXPRESS. There were two carts with our trunks and owls etc. We weren't in uniforms but regular clothes (seventies clothes in fact). We pushed our carts out into the crowd to board the train to the long awaited last year of Hogwarts. We weren't really sure what to do, but a nice man who worked on the Express took our bags to be put on the train.  
"CAROLINE! KELSEY!" came a yell from somewhere to our right. It was Cecily and she was dragging Alice along with her.  
"It's so good to see you two! A lot has happened over the summer and I can't wait to tell you!" she exclaimed. I smiled.  
"Me too! I have to tell you guys!" Alice said. Kelsey looked around.  
"Where's...where's Lily?" she asked. Cecily grinned.  
"You cannot believe. Well, actually you can. Its pretty obvious, but Lily's Head Girl!" she said.  
"She's in the Head Department right now." Alice said.  
"That's great!" I exclaimed as I took the mint Alice offered me.  
"I wonder who Head Boy is." Cecily asked. I choked on my mint. Kelsey hit me.  
"No idea. Probably Remus Lupin." I said. Alice nodded.  
"C'mon! Let's get on the train! We can get the best compartment!"  
"Aren't they all the same?" Kelsey asked.  
"Not really. Some of them are all gross." She answered as we hurried on to the train. Finding a compartment, we sat down and talked about our summers. Kelsey and I both made up our own summers since we didn't really have one, but were eager to hear about Alice and Cecily's.  
"Guys, this is really good news for me, so...be happy for me." Alice said. Kelsey and I laughed.  
"Okay, you know the seventh year Gryffindor from last year? Frank Longbottom?" She asked. We all nodded.  
"Well...guess who is in a considerably serious relationship with him?!" she exclaimed, subtly pointing to herself.  
"AHH! Seriously?!" Cecily squealed. Alice nodded proudly.  
"It's not just a summer fling?" I asked coyly. Alice shook her head.  
"No way! I promise, he is my future husband!" she teased. I glanced at Kelsey, who was grinning.  
"Imagine that," Kelsey said.  
"Yeah! He's in Auror training right now and he promised to write me and we'll get together on school breaks when he's not working." She said. I was ecstatically for her and was about to add to it when our compartment door swung open. Lily came storming in, fuming and slumped down next to Kelsey.  
"Hey Lily...did you have a good summer?" Kelsey asked. She nodded.  
"What's wrong?" Cecily asked. Lily rubbed her forehead.  
"You cannot believe." She said.  
"What?  
Lily looked at us.  
"Guess whose Head Boy?" Neither I nor Kelsey answered but tried to hide in grins.  
"Remus Lupin?" Alice guessed. Lily threw her hands up.  
"That's who I thought too! But noo... it's not him!" she said. There was a pause.  
"Then who is it?" I implied, trying to get it out.  
Lily groaned inwardly.  
"James Potter," Cecily and Alice's jaws dropped. Kelsey and I gasped, trying not to laugh.  
"I know. It's horrible. Absolutely horrible! How could he be Head Boy?! Do you realize how much time I have to spend with him this year because of this?!" Lily exclaimed. She buried her face in her hands.  
"This is going to be the worst year of my life." She said. Kelsey and I looked at each other.  
OH HOW LITTLE SHE KNEW 


	18. A REAL Conversation?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by the brilliant J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is solely for entertainment.

Chapter 18: A REAL Conversation!?!

Lily was in a considerably bad mood for the whole of the trip. It did not get any better when James Potter took a little visit to our compartment. He was already in his robes and grinned at us as he entered. Lily glared at him, while the rest of us tried to wave or smile with out being seen by Lily.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" she said, demandingly. He folded his arms and leaned against the door sill.

"Well, the Head Girl and Boy, have the very exciting duty of patrolling the train and compartments and I was sent to get the Head Girl, which is you, my dear, to patrol the train with me." He said coyly. Lily sighed and got up and walked briskly out the door, shooting a deathly glare at James as she passed him. James glanced at me and motioned for me to get up. I walked over to him.

"Do you think she might like me this year?" he whispered. I looked at him with a look saying I-DON'T-MEAN-TO-BE-RUDE-BUT… and he waved the question off.

"I'm getting her this year. I've changed. Seriously! Just give me a head start. How 'bout some advise?" he asked. I looked at him as if it was obvious.

"Oh, hmmm…how 'bout TALKING TO HER!" I exclaimed sarcastically. He motioned his hand frantically for me to be quiet.

"I know that. But I don't know how I'm going to do that if I can't get a word in edge wise and she won't answer me back anyways." He said. He was probably right.

"Well, try. Oh, and PLEASE… I'm begging you; call her by her first name. It'll make a huge impact. And, don't be so cocky. I know there's someone nice and generous somewhere in there." I said. He grimaced.

"Was I really that bad?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed him out the compartment.

"Go." And he took off down the aisle after Lily.

Lily was walking very fast trying to stay as far ahead of James as possible.

"Hey! Hey Lily, wait up!" came James from behind her. She stopped and turned. Then she mentally hit herself. **_'Why did I stop? It's just James Potter. Well, he did call me by my first name…but he's still a bastard, so, well…to late now, here he is…'_** she argued to herself. James appeared beside her.

"Hey," he said quietly. She nodded and turned away as they walked down the aisle checking in compartments.

"How was your summer?" he asked. Lily glanced at him.

"Well, um…it was good. I went to the beach. My sister's getting married, so she wasn't there. Thank god. "She said.

"What? You don't like her?" he asked. Lily didn't know if she should answer. This was James Potter she was talking to and he was actually…talking words instead of pick up lines so Lily went along with it.

"I liked her, but when I got my letter, our 'sisterly' relationship with down-hill. My parents were so happy when I got my letter. My sister, Petunia, from then on considered me untouchable. Like, everything I touched would turn into rat or something. I was a… a freak to her, which I guess can be true and we haven't really had a REAL conversation for seven years." She explained. James soaked everything she said in. He never realized anything like this would be in her family life.

"I don't think you're a freak," he said. '_**Good Lord! Did I just say that?!**'_ he said to himself. Lily laughed one of those laughs James loved.

"Well, that's good to know." She sighed softly. "I guess…being Muggleborn doesn't help me much here either…especially with Voldemort killing all these people…" she said softly. **_'Merlin! What am I doing pouring my heart out to James Potter? He doesn't care…Does he?'_**

****"There are a lot of people who aren't bothered by Muggleborns, Lily. I mean, usually they are or were Slytherins who are." James said. He paused to check a compartment.

"I know that." Lily said, quickly. "I just get scared because, well, remember last year? That Ravenclaw? Casey Turner?"

James nodded.

"Her parents were killed and her parents were Muggles and…" her voice broke and she looked away. She didn't want James to see her upset. He WAS James Potter anyways. James's brow creased and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He had never in his 7 years at Hogwarts seen this side of Lily Evans before and he ached for her even more. Lily exhaled and let out a faint smile as if apologizing.

"It's okay." He said softly. He wanted to say something else, but the train suddenly jerked to a stop. Lily rubbed her forehead in embarrassment. James looked at her and smiled.

"I guess I'll see you later." He said and started to walk away as students began to spill out.

"Wait!" Lily said and he stopped and turned to her. She stepped toward him through the crowds and creased her eyebrows in confusion.

"Why are you being so nice?"

James felt the impact of the question knock right into him.

"Is it a crime to be nice?" he said. Lily shrugged.

"No…but-"but James stopped her.

"Well, since we're both Head Boy and Head Girl and we'll be working together a lot, I guess I wanted to have a REAL conversation with you for once. Like that one." He said timidly. Lily nodded and smiled. **_'This isn't soo bad. He has a point.'_**

"Well, I'll see you later Pott—James." She said and started to walk past him.

"Hey, Lily! We have a meeting after dinner with the Prefects!" he yelled after her.

"I know! I'll see you there!" she yelled back before running off. James watched her run into the crowd and went in search of Sirius, Remus and Peter feeling very light-headed.

I hurried through the crowd looking for the others who I had lost in all the people trying to get out.

"Hey Caroline!"

I turned to see Lily running up to me.

"Hey, was patrolling the halls super fun?" I teased. She laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"It wasn't that bad." She said. I squinted my eyes her. She had a far away look in her eyes as if she was day dreaming about something very good. I was guessing her patrolling with James went pretty well and didn't ask her about it. I didn't want her to have second thoughts. We managed to find Kelsey, Cecily and Alice and quickly hurried to a carriage. Lily seemed very eager to get to Hogwarts. I pulled Kelsey aside before getting in and I told what I thought. She was very excited and actually managed to get the carriage to go faster (I have no idea how!).

"Do you have a Head Girl meeting thing after dinner?" Cecily asked Lily. Lily looked up, her emerald eyes glittering.

"Yeah. I'll have to get used to them. I hear there are lot of them," she said. Alice wrinkled her nose.

"Man, all with Potter. Sorry, Lil," Alice said laughing. Lily laughed.

"Yeah, poor me."

"C'mon Prongs!! Tell us!" Sirius exclaimed, shoved at James's shoulder.

"I already told you everything!" James said grinning. Sirius scoffed.

"Oh, yes. Here's the direct quote from James Potter: 'We actually had a real conversation.' Period. You failed to mention what you talked about!" James rolled his eyes.

"It was our conversation and part of that certain article-OUR does not involve you." James said. Sirius threw up his hands and gave up.

"Fine, you don't have to tell your best friend. Whatever." He said with a glint in his eye. There was a very long awkward silence as James looked out the carriage window. Sirius stared him down.

"What did you talk about?"

"MERLIN! SIRIUS!"

"Sorry!"

In the Great Hall, I never really listened to Dumbledore's announcements. I felt a tap on my arm and looked up at Alice.

"Hey," she whispered, she looked pretty happy. I leaned in to listen.

"I just heard Bertha Jorkins talking just now. Bellatrix didn't come back this year," she whispered. My face lit up.

"Do you have the choice to come back or not?"

Cecily shook her head.

"Last year, when she hit you with curse, she was planned to be expelled, remember? But her father refused to let that happen and forced the Ministry to let her finish the term. She couldn't go to Azkaban because she was a minor and apparently, this year, she didn't even get a letter."

"What do you think she's doing now that she's not at Hogwarts?"

Cecily shrugged and went back to eating.

My first thought is that she sided with Voldemort and became a Death Eater. That was pretty logical since it said in the fifth book Sirius hadn't seen Bellatrix since he was 16 or 17.

"Well, I'm glad she didn't come back." I said. Now, I could have my last year at Hogwarts in peace.

I sat through the sorting hat ceremony remarkably well without becoming too bored.

"I'm proud to announce our new Head Boy and Head Girl for the year 1978; James Potter and Lily Evans." Dumbledore said. He motioned for James and Lily to stand and the students clapped loudly. Lily smiled broadly before quickly sitting down.

"Remember you two and all prefects. There will be a meeting immediately after dinner in the Great Hall," he added.

"Oh, House Quidditch captions, please report to your Head of House your practice hours and all that as soon as possible. We wish the teams the best of luck in the upcoming season!" Dumbledore announced.

"Now, without further delay, let the feast begin!"

Food appeared on the empty trays before our eyes and the hall erupted into noise of laughing, talking and whispering. I hadn't bought anything on the train so I was quite starving and piled my plate with food. I was about to begin eating when Kelsey looked up behind me. I turned to look behind me.

"Hey Sirius," I exclaimed. He grinned

"Hey, I need to talk to you," he said. My eyes glazed nervously.

"What'd I do?"

He laughed.

"You didn't DO anything,"

I got up slowly, giving Kelsey an anxious look. She shrugged and I turned to Sirius. He pulled me aside a bit.

"Don't freak out, okay? Just listen to me." He said.

"Don't worry. I'm already freaked out," I said nervously. He rolled his eyes.

"If you haven't already guessed, James is the new Quidditch caption." He began.

"Cool! I knew he would be," I said. Sirius nodded.

"Okay, I threw this idea at James and he's really excited about it."

I waited for him to tell me this certain idea.

"Well, it was our other beater's seventh year last year, so we are deprived of a beater this year and James and I think…we want you to try out for the team."

I burst into laughter.

"Wow…you're…really funny!" I said, gaining my breath. He ran a hand through his hair.

"I wasn't kidding, Caroline! We really do want you to."

I stared at him as if he was mad.

"Are you insane?!? I don't know shit about Quidditch and oh yeah! I can't fly a broom!" I said.

"Oh, bull! You most certainly can fly a broom! Do you not remember our certain escapade at Hogsmeade in June? You're an amazing flyer! You were good even our first year at our broom flying classes. I never understood why you didn't try out for Quidditch when you were twelve!" he argued.

"And for your other pitiful excuse, James and I will help out when ever you don't get something. We happen to know a lot about Quidditch." He said. I gasped sarcastically.

"You do?! I had no idea!" I rolled my eyes.

"Will you just try out? Please?!" he asked, clearly frustrated. I sighed.

"Well, I DID play softball before I came to Hogwarts." I said.

"Softball?"

Oh, right. Sirius grew up in the wizarding world.

"Er…where you hit balls with a bat and run around bases?" I said.

"That's perfect!! That's almost exactly what beaters do!" he exclaimed. I shrugged and thought for a second.

"Sure. Why not, it'd be fun," I said. Sirius looked ecstatic.

"Excellent! James will tell you when you can try out. Trust me, you won't regret this," he said and hurried back to where he was sitting. I stood there for a second, stunned. Was I going to play Quidditch for the Gryffindor team? That depended if I was good enough. I wasn't good, was I? Oh, hell.

After dinner, Lily stayed behind for the meeting, not completely aware what she was supposed to do. When all the other students was completely gone except for her, James and new and returning prefects, Dumbledore moved the tables and set a smaller one for all of them to sit at. To James's delight, the Head Girl and Head Boy patrolled the halls after hours six times a week (except for Sundays) with help from the prefects. They had a meeting with Dumbledore once a week and if an event came up in the school schedule, it was their job to plan it. They planned 7th year graduation as well. Lily bit her lip as she scanned the parchment. She definitely underestimated the amount of responsibilities she thought she would have. James on the other hand was perfectly content with the jobs since the majority was working with Lily.

The meeting when on longer than Lily or James expected and it wasn't until after hours that the meeting was over. Dumbledore told them to go ahead and patrol whatever halls they walked through before going to bed. Lily went ahead and left, but James stayed behind to talk to Dumbledore.

"Professor?" James spoke up. Dumbledore looked up at James, his eyes twinkling.

"Yes, James? What can I do for you?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you something," he said.

"Certainly."

James paused for a second while Dumbledore waited.

"I-I just wanted to ask you…why you chose me to be Head Boy? I mean, I've had more detentions than half the people in this school," he said. Dumbledore beamed at him.

"James, you've always been more humble than you seem."

James gave him a smug smile.

"I decided you were best for the job because you are one of my most loyal, most brave, most giving, most responsible and most talented students despite your knack for causing trouble. I'm sure you were surprised your friend Remus Lupin didn't get the badge and you did, but James; Conduct is just one of the few traits that award someone a Head badge. Let's just say I let your troublesome ways slip a bit." he explained. James grinned and nodded.

"Okay. Thank you, sir." He said and hurried out of the Great Hall. The slid around the corner, just as someone came out of the shadows.

"Hey,"

James jumped out of his skin, his breath stopping. He whirled around to see Lily.

"Merlin, do you always sneak up on people like that?" he said, trying to regain his breath. Lily hid in a laugh.

"No,"

"Then what were you doing?" he asked.

"Well, I got freaked out walking the halls alone when it's so dark so I decided to wait for you," she said. He eyed her, arching one eyebrow.

"Wait for **_me_**?"

She shrugged.

"You were the only one around, I guess. All the prefects left at once," she said. He looked at her for a few seconds as if she had some sort of brain damage.

"Okay." He said blinking. They turned and started walking down the hall. They were silent for a few minutes until Lily got increasingly nervous.

"Hey, um…sorry about on the train, I didn't mean to break down or whatever like that." She said, breaking the silence. He grinned and shrugged.

"Hey, it's okay. I mean, you have a right to be scared." He said. She glanced at him, but turned away. She could not understand what had happened to him over the summer and ever since patrolling the train she couldn't help but be drawn to him.

"Uh, Alice told me Bellatrix didn't come back this year." She said, trying to make conversation. James looked up and raised his eyebrows.

"She just didn't come? Or was told not to come back?" he asked. Lily shrugged.

"That's what I don't get. I guess she just didn't come to the Hogwarts Express. Caroline's pretty happy."

James laughed.

"I'm sure she is. I'll have to tell Sirius, maybe he'll know where she went. Probably not though." He said. Lily knew Sirius didn't quite belong in the Black family line and his parents didn't care much either.

"Does he still live in his parent's house?" she asked. James laughed again.

"Hell, no! Beginning of last year, he comes to my house one night with his trunk, fuming. He told me he couldn't stand it and couldn't stay there anymore and he stayed at my house during the summers. His uncle left him a small fortune so he'll probably buy his own flat right out of Hogwarts this year." He said. Saying the new password, the Fat Lady swung open and the two of them entered into the common room. The fire was still lit and the common room was as warm as it always has been. Before going up to the dormitory, Lily turned to James.

"Something's changed about you, Potter." she said, her brow creased with thought. James could not keep his grin in.

"Like what?"

"I don't know…you just seem different." She said, still looking at him. He raised an eyebrow.

"I hope it's a good thing,"

She laughed.

"Yeah, it's good."

He gave her a lopsided smile.

"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow I guess. Good night." He turned and hurried up to the guy's dormitory. She looked down quickly and smacked her head.

"Yeah, it's good?! He's going to think I'm like wanting to get in his pants or something! Stop it, Lily." She demanded and hurried up to her dormitory in embarrassment, not sure how she could LOOK at him tomorrow.


	19. A Definite Change For Men and Flying Bro...

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by the brilliant J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is solely for entertainment.

Chapter 19: A Definite Change For Men and Flying Broomsticks

Lily woke up in a particularly good mood, but when her thoughts turned to Potter, she became nervous because of the night before. She had never expected herself to be so bold, especially to James Potter. When I woke up, she was humming to herself while she brushed her hair.

"When did you wake up?" I asked her groggily. She turned, startled at my voice, not knowing I was awake.

"Not that long ago." She said blankly.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. I could sense it. She stopped for a second, and then shrugged.

"Nothing,"

"Bull!" I said. I looked around at Cecily, Alice and Kelsey. They were still sleeping like logs, so I got up and walked over to Lily. I hopped up onto the vanity, while she sat in front of it, looking into the mirror. Her brow creased as if she was in deep thought. I prayed she was thinking about James, so I brought it up subtly.

"How was the Head Girl/Guy-prefect thing meeting last night? It went on pretty late," I said. She paused and looked at me for a second, set her brush down and buried her face into her hands. She groaned inwardly as if regretting something.

"Whoa...did I miss something here?" I said, surprised. I looked at the others who were sleeping. They hadn't budged, so I turned back to her.

"I won't...I can't...I'm soooo stupid...God, I wasn't flirting...no, I wasn't. Maybe I was...or maybe he thought I was... Ewww...he WAS nice, but...what's wrong with me?!" she mumbled. I hardly got any of it. I took her arm and led her into the connecting bathroom and closed the door.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked in a harsh whisper.

"James." She said quietly.

"James? JAMES?! Firstly, I'm shocked you called him JAMES and secondly, YOU FLIRTED WITH HIM?!" I yelled. She slammed her hand over my mouth before the other three woke up.

"I didn't flirt with him...I--no. I didn't. There. Never mind. Forget what I said."

"How 'bout not. Seriously, what happened?" I asked, trying to hide in my eagerness. She sighed deeply, before beginning.

"He stayed after to talk to Dumbledore after the meeting and I was walking down the corridor when I got a little freaked out walking alone in a HUGE castle right? So, I go back and..." she shuddered and mentally hit herself, "I waited for him. When he came out, he was really nice and we walked up to the common room. But before I went up to the dormitory, I told him he'd changed. He smirked and said, 'I hope it's a good thing,' which it is and I said, 'yeah, it's good.' She finished. I paused.

"That's it?"

She nodded. I threw up my hands.

"That's not flirting, Lily! You were being nice and so was he!"

"I know! I wasn't flirting, but what if he took it as if I like him now or something?!" she exclaimed in a whisper. I looked at her.

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Like him."

Lily froze, it hadn't passed her mind. Did she like James Potter? That was completely out of the question. Right?

"I..." she faltered.

"Lily? Caroline?" came Alice's voice from the dormitory. Lily immediately took this as an excuse to avoid the question.

"In here!" she yelled and hurried out of the bathroom.

James was indeed in an even better mood than Lily and showed it to anyone in his presence.

"Hey, Perky! Snap out of it!" Sirius yelled into his ear. He jumped in surprise and hit Sirius on the back.

"What's up with you today, mate?" Remus asked. James grinned triumphantly.

"She likes me."  
Sirius raised his eyebrows. Remus rose one skeptically.

"And this is a fact?" Remus asked. James shrugged.

"Well, it's not official, but-"

"Did she TELL you? 'Hey James. I like you.'"? Sirius egged. James slumped his shoulders.

"Not exactly. BUT, she said I had changed and I was like, 'Is that a good thing,' and she smiled and said, it was very good. Merlin, when she smiled..." he fell backwards. Sirius clapped. Remus rolled his eyes, grinning.

"Your right, mate. I think she fancies you...almost," Sirius said, kneeling down beside James.

"He's right. You don't think she already COMPLETELY altered her opinions of you the second day of school?" Remus said.

"You're right, Moony, but don't worry 'bout that." He said winking at him. He then gave him a look that Remus wasn't sure what it meant.

"What about you Rem? Any opinions on the opposite sex? One specific female maybe?"

"What?"

"Don't be daft, Moony! Kelsey! What's up with you and her?" Sirius exclaimed, slipping on this robe, not bothering with his tie. Remus turned crimson and shrugged.

"Did you see her this summer?"

"No, she forgot to tell me where she was going," he said.

"Are you 'continuing' your relationship this year?" James asked. "You gonna ask her to Hogsmeade again?"

Remus glared at him.

"I was going to, but now I'm not sure since you gits went and ruined the last one!" he said angrily.

"I swear Moony, this time we won't mess it up." Sirius said. Remus didn't believe either of them and they finally decided to go down to breakfast without Peter who had slept in (and snored and snorted uncontrollably).

As I sat eating breakfast that morning, I noticed James, Sirius and Remus come in, but didn't say anything. I looked at Lily but she gave me a look and I went back to talking to Cecily, Alice and Kelsey. It wasn't until Sirius came up behind me that I started to talk to them.

"Come to the Quidditch pitch after lunch," he said. "It'll just be me and James and you can try out for us." He said. I nodded and turned back to Kelsey. She looked rather excited until they began passing out our new schedules.

"Double potions?!" she exclaimed, cursing her least favorite class. I looked down at my new schedule. Mine was much different from Kelsey's or Lily's. I had double Defense Against the Dark Arts. Every day. Confused, I got up and approached Professor McGonagall at the teacher's table. When I told her about my schedule and how it was different from Kelsey and Lily's, she creased her brow.

"Well, of course they're different, dear. You told me during career choices fifth year you wanted to be an Auror. Your classes this year are to prepare you for it. Miss Evans and Miss Jistel are on the career path to become healers. I'm afraid you won't have as many classes with them." She said. I blinked and my mouth curved into a small smile.

"I-I'm going to be an Auror?"

Professor McGonagall stared at me for a moment as if I was brain-dead or something, then answered.

"Yes, dear. You'll have to go through training at the Ministry, of course, after you finish school but yes, if you want to be," she said. I blinked again.

"Okay...thank-you, professor..." I said and hurried back to the Gryffindor table.

After breakfast, I split from Kelsey, Lily, Cecily and Alice to go to DADA only to pass by Sirius and James. As I walked by, Sirius grabbed my schedule out of my hand.

"Hey!" I said, not knowing it was him. I sighed irritated, when I saw him and crossed my arms as I waited for him to give it back.

"Hey! You're in practically all my classes!" he exclaimed as he handed my schedule to James.

"Oh joy." I said. James looked up from the parchment.

"Are you planning on becoming an Auror too?" he asked.

"Apparently," I said.

"Excellent, so, we'll all be in training at the Ministry together," Sirius added. I nodded.

"Looks that way," I said, grabbing my schedule from James's hand.

"What about Lily?" James asked.

"What about her?" I asked, tucking my schedule into my bag.

"What was her career choice?"

"Healer. Same as Kelsey," I answered. He nodded before entering the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"What? Is that part of your 'plan' to get her?" I asked, following him into the classroom. He rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"I was just wondering,"

"Sure,"

"Seriously!"

"Yeah, okay."

The morning classes went by so slowly, it felt like it was dinner, by the time it was lunch. During lunch, Cecily reminded me to go to the Quidditch pitch afterwards.

"You think Potter will put you on the team?" Alice asked.

"I don't know..." I said nervously.

"If he did, would you play?" Cecily added. I shrugged.

"Probably.

"Probably... you will! We're going to make you! In fact, I'm glad they're making you go out for the team. We need a Gryffindor girl on the Quidditch team!" Lily said. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Any other reason, Lily Evans?" She turned a deep pink.

"No." she said quickly. She kicked me under the table and I gave her teasing grin.

After lunch, I nervously made my way out to the Quidditch field and sat down on a bench since James and Sirius weren't there yet. To pass the time, I took out my DADA homework (we already had some, I know, it's horrible!). I hadn't gotten past the first paragraph when suddenly Sirius and James slid onto the bench on either side of me from behind. I jumped from surprise, dropping my parchment. James grabbed it before it blew off across the field. They both grinned eagerly.

"Ready?"

I sighed, packing my homework into my bag.

"As much as I'll ever be," I said. James smiled and handed me a folded stack of Quidditch robes. Taking them, I hurried into the locker room. There were two separate rooms. Girls and Guys. Walking into the empty girl's locker room, I quickly changed into the Quidditch robes. They were tad bit confusing (especially the arm and shin guards), but quite comfortable. Making my way out onto the Quidditch pitch, I conjured up a hair elastic (a little trick Cecily taught me) and pulled my hair back into a loose ponytail. I met up with Sirius and James in the middle of the field, where they stood with the case of Quidditch balls and their brooms. Unfortunately, they were not in their Quidditch robes. (A/N: hee hee) James handed me his broom.

"Here, you can use mine," he said. I was well aware he always had the latest model, so I raised my eyebrows at it.

"You sure it's not 'too much' for me?" I teased. He shrugged.

"It's not that bad,"

I nodded and he opened the ball case.

"Sirius is going to go up with you," James said, motioning toward Sirius, who had taken off his black robe and rolled up his uniform sleeves.

"Okay,"

"So, you know the basic stuff of Quidditch, right?"

"Depends on how YOU define basic." I answered.

"Like, you know the positions, the balls and all that."

"I'm not THAT clueless, James." He laughed and motioned for Sirius to fly up.

"Okay, you can go up too." He said. Mounting, I lifted off, soaring into the air so naturally it was as if I had been flying for years. My insides leapt, feeling the same adrenaline I felt at Hogsmeade. Sirius was a little ways away from me and soared higher, so he wasn't in my way.

"Are you ready?!" James shouted up to me.

"Yeah!" I yelled back.

"Okay, I'm going to send out a bludger and I wanted you to hit it through the goal hoops!" he instructed. I gaped down at him.

"Through them?! How do I know if I'll even hit one?!" I exclaimed.

"Just try!"

"Okay, fine,"

"Try not to get hit by them! Trust me, it hurts like bloody hell!" Sirius yelled down to me, laughing. I rolled my eyes.

"Gee, thanks," I mumbled.

"Okay!" James yelled and cautiously let go of the bludger.

The bludger pummeled into the sky soaring around the far end of the field toward the goal post. I gripped the beater bat and watched in anticipation as it soared back toward me.

"Watch it now, it's coming back!" Sirius yelled. I had never in my life felt my heart pound against my chest as hard as it did now. Reeling the bat back, I swished to the side without thinking and right when the bludger came close enough, I leveled with it, swinging with all my strength. The bludger met the bat with a loud crack and flew back in the same direction it came. Astonished by the amount of strength I had suddenly gained, I watched as the bludger soared back toward the goal hoops. Sirius and James were silent as they watched intently. Sirius flew after it to get a closer look. The bludger zoomed evenly right through the middle goal. I gaped at myself. I, in no way could do that, but I just did nearly out of reflex! Sirius came flying back, with a bewildered, yet very impressed expression on his face.

"Caroline!" James called from below, "That was incredible!"

"Er, thanks." I said. There was a low whistling noise and I turned to see the bludger hurdling back towards me.

"Hit it a couple more times," James said as Sirius landed next to him.

I ended up hitting it more than a 'couple times' and finally Sirius caught it, tumbling to the ground, struggling to get it back in the box.

After I changed out of my now sweaty Quidditch robes, James and Sirius met me outside the locker room.

"Is that all?" I asked, as if they had anything else they wanted me to do. James shook his head. Nodding, I headed off back toward the castle. Sirius and James stood there for a moment. Turning to each other, they blinked for a second and dashed after me, whirling in front of me. I was taken aback as James and Sirius swished around to face me.

"You're on the team."

"What?"

"You're on. We start practice next week.

"You're kidding."

"No."

I arched an eyebrow.

"You really want me on the team?"

"Yes.

"Am I that good?"

"YES! Why in bloody hell haven't you ever tried out for the team before?!""I...err...I don't know."

"Well, whatever. You're on the team now and you better say you'll play or I'll—"

"Okay."

"What?"

"Okay, I'll play! Sure, Geez. Don't freak out James, it's just Quidditch.

James took that a tad bit too personally and a short lecture later, I met up with Alice, Cecily, Lily and Kelsey in the common room. They jumped up when I came in.

"Well?!"

I shrugged giving them an excited grin.

"I'm on the team,"

There was a squeal of excitement and an eruption of questions. Embarrassed, I dragged all of them up to the dormitory before they made a scene.

Today was the first night for patrolling the halls for Lily and mixed emotions swirled in her brain as she left After Hours to wait for James (who patrols with her). She was excited, apprehensive and nervous at the same time to be patrolling with him and she still could not control the mixed emotions that James was now overpowering her with. She leaned against the stone wall while she waited for him to arrive.

"Lily?"

Lily turned as James walked up toward her with a smug grin on his face. He nodded at him as he came up beside her.

"Ready?" he asked. Lily nodded and they began walking through random hallways. There was a long silence between the two of them and Lily got incredibly nervous.

"Caroline told us you put her on the team," she said.

"Yeah!" James said with excitement. Lily smiled.

"She still doesn't seem to understand why though,"

James grinned.

"It'll sink in. It took Angus Fletcher days before he truly acknowledged he was on the Quidditch team," he added, laughing.

"What about you?"

"Ah, well, I wasn't that surprised I made the team. I knew I would make it." he said. Lily rolled her eyes.

"That doesn't surprise me either,"

"Yeah well..." he stopped and suddenly whirled around to face her directly.

"Look, Lily. I won't deny that I've been a bit conceited in the past and I really, truly want you to know that I completely agree at why you hate me, now that I've thought about it. And now since we're working together so much, would it be possible if you put all your resent for me aside and just be friends?"

The small speech stunned Lily and she didn't know what to say.

"Er...Friends?"

"Friends."

"...Okay," was all she could say. James nodded and smiled and they began walking again.

"Okay, now that we cleared that up, I want to know more about you." James said. "Wait, hold on. Let me guess," he said.

"You have loads of brothers and sisters; you live in like the outskirts of London in a white house..."

Lily laughed hard.

"Merlin no! I have one sister. I thought you knew that... I live in Surrey and my house is brick." She said intellectually. James grinned and nodded,

"I knew that."

Lily laughed again and James smiled wider. He loved to make her laugh and for the remaining time of patrolling he made her laugh all he could. All he had was Sirius or Remus or Peter to make laugh but that wasn't as enjoyable as making the one girl you've loved for quite a few years, smile. He had told her he wanted to be just friends and a part of him regretted ever saying it.

'She'll probably think I'm the best friend, who comes to her wedding to give congratulations or something,' he thought.

James really wanted to be more than that but he didn't want to ruin what he had at this very moment with Lily by jumping further.

When they entered the common room to end for the night, James stopped and smiled at her.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow..." he said softly and made his way up the stone steps.

"Good night," he said back toward her.

"Good night..." Lily whispered, but James could still hear her and his heart leapt. He had the great urge to run back down and kiss her right now, but hurried up to the dormitory with effort. Lily let out a breath.

"That wasn't so bad." She said out loud and walked up to the girl's dormitory. In fact, it was more than that. She had quite a fun time patrolling with James and still laughed randomly at all the things he had said that made her laugh so hard. She definitely could not wait until tomorrow. James Potter had most definitely changed and Lily couldn't get enough of it.


	20. Good Lord, Men are good

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by the brilliant J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is solely for entertainment.

Chapter 20: Good Lord, Men are Good

I've been at school for two weeks and I have never in my life, not even in high school, have I been worked as hard I was now preparing for post-Hogwarts and to become an Auror. Good Lord, I came to dinner completely exhausted everyday and Quidditch practice was starting soon and that's just as tiresome and time-consuming. I do not know how James and Sirius could do it every year.

I decided not to go to dinner Friday because I could hardly keep my eyes open. I slept for the rest of the evening and only woke up when Lily accidentally slammed her books on the floor. She cursed and started apologizing when she realized it had woken me up.

"It's okay. Where are you going?"

"Patrolling and I'm late."

It was Lily's second week of patrolling and from what the rest of us observed, she was quite enthusiastic about it.

"Oh? How's that going, considering you're with..." I said.

"It's great."

"Great?"

She looked at me and then tied back her hair.

"I got to go. Sorry I woke you up. Bye!" and with that, she hurried out the dormitory.

Wow, you could tell it in her eyes she loved him now. I've always wanted to see the moment and here it is.

OH, THIS WAS GOOD.

James walked along the hallway, half patrolling and half waiting for Lily. The last two weeks have been the best weeks of his life. He had never loved anyone more than he loved Lily now. He wanted so much to tell her how much he cared for her but she saw them as just friends and he didn't want to turn her off.

When he glanced her coming down the corridor, his face lit and he smiled. Days went too slowly and having to wait all day to patrol made them go even slower.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I was studying and lost track of time." Lily said breathlessly, as if she had been running.

"No problem."

Lily smiled in relief.

"What are they starting you out with? For becoming a healer and all." He said as they started walking.

"Too much, if you ask me. I need to memorize over 30 healing charms by the end of the month," she said.

"Yeah, same in my classes." James said. Lily and James actually had about three classes together even though they were getting different jobs.

"Was it you and Sirius who made Whipple's cauldron explode?" Lily said accusingly, teasing him. He gave her a lopsided grin and shrugged.

"Maybe,"

Lily laughed and shook her head.

"Is Remus taking Kelsey to the Hogsmeade trip this weekend?" Lily inquired.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure, but I don't think he's asked her yet. He still thinks we're going to play a prank on them again." He said. She looked at him seriously.

"Are you?"

James shook his head genuinely and Lily nodded.

"Well, if he's nervous to ask her, tell him she would love to go with him again. She told me." Lily said. James grinned.

"I'll tell him," He said. They were silent for a while until James got the courage to ask.

"What are you going to do at Hogsmeade this weekend?" he asked. Lily stopped.

"Because if you want, how about hanging out with me this weekend?" he asked and immediately looked away to scold himself.

I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT. DAMMIT...

Lily sucked in a breath ever so slightly so he couldn't hear and closed her eyes for a split second. A 7th year Ravenclaw named William Fortson had asked her to Hogsmeade already and she accepted. James was her friend now, so she hoped he wouldn't get upset. But at the moment, she regretted ever saying 'yes' to William. For some reason, after all this time and all these nights patrolling with James, something had surged through her. But Lily knew she had no choice.

"James, I..."

DAMN, SHE'S GOING TO TURN ME DOWN RIGHT NOW.

Lily suddenly caught herself gazing at him and cut off the eye contact.

"William Fortson already asked me. And I—um..."she stuttered. James knew where this was going

"Oh. Right, okay." He said quietly, now clearly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I-"  
"No, you don't need to apologize, Lily." James said softly. "I guess I'm just really embarrassed at the moment. I-I really don't want you to take it as if I'm asking you out for the heck of it like I used to. So, if anything comes up...I'm still here." He said generously. Lily looked down, ashamed of herself. James gave her a small smile.

"I hope you two have fun." He said and when he realized that they stood in front of the Fat Lady, he hurried inside, leaving Lily standing there, dumbstruck.

---

"LILY! You really are going to have to get up!" Cecily said. Lily hugged her knees and lay in the corner of her bed and shook her head.

"I can't face him."

I stopped making my bed. Kelsey and Alice looked up.

"Who? William? Seriously Lily, I don't think he's—"

"Not William. James."

Alice blinked and widened her eyes.

"James? James Potter? Why?" she asked. Lily let her head fall to her knees.

"He asked me to Hogsmeade." She said. I sighed. She had already accepted William.

"He's asked you before. Why is this so different?" Cecily inquired. Lily looked up.

"I don't...know."

I walked over to the bed and sat down.

"You're in love with him." I said quietly so no one could really hear. I said it so abruptly only because I knew it. Of course she loved him. It's seventh year! It wasn't a statement or a question because I knew the answer. She was in love. Lily looked back at me silently.

"Am I?" she said, confused with her own heart.

"I think you are. But he's the one person who you'd never let in and you've convinced yourself of that. But now here he is and you can't help it." I said. She looked down.

"You know what? You're right." She said. I smiled. But now she looked at all of us, eyes wide.

"But I'm going with William! And I had to tell him that and it was awkward and he said he hoped I had fun with him and if something came up, he was still there! But I can't break my date with William..." she said hysterically. She ran hand through her hair.

"I couldn't bear to face him...not after that."

"What are you going to do?" Cecily asked.

"I'll have to go with William." She said and got out of bed and hurried into the bathroom.

James shifted in his seat trying not to look at Lily. Last night was awkward but he didn't want her to feel bad about it. After all, he was the one who asked her. When the bell rang at last and Whipple dismissed them, he glanced at Lily walking out the door. Taking a breath, he hurried after her, telling Sirius he'd see him in a second.

"Lily! Hey! Lily!"

Lily seemed to hesitate for a second, and then turned to him. He smiled at her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I—I need to talk to you actually..." he said. He looked around at the bustling students around him. "Alone."

Lily chewed at the inside of her cheek.

"Alright."

Taking her arm, James led her out the front doors into the open September air and down to the lake.

"Wow. Is it that private, James?" she asked looking around at the empty grass. He nodded seriously.

"Lily, I don't want you to feel bad about last night. Of all people, you shouldn't feel ashamed."

James paused for a second.

" I was serious about what I said, Lily. I don't want you moping around on a perfectly good date because you feel bad for me. You never have to feel bad for me. I...I want you to be happy, alright? Really, this guy might be THE guy and you'll find the right guy one day so I want you to know I will always be there. He said. It sounded really sappy to him once he realized what he said but it was too late. James stood there to see Lily's reaction and also hoping that she would realize what he really meant by 'finding the right guy'. It was some speech and Lily thought she was on the verge of tears. It was all too much for her. Now she knew she loved him. All she could do was nod. James smiled and slowly, he leaned down and kissed her, pressing his lips to hers. He lingered for only a moment and then came up as quickly as he had come. Lily did not want him to leave, but he looked down at her, gave her one last smile and left. Once he was out of sight, Lily let out a breath she had been holding in the entire time.

"Good Lord, he's good." She thought.

It was Hogsmeade Day and Lily dreaded it more than ever. She looked out the carriage window the entire time and didn't say anything. When we finally arrived, Kelsey hurriedly went off to meet Remus who had asked her again-to her joy and Alice went off to meet Frank, who I was dying to meet eventually. Cecily and I were the only ones left when Lily went to go meet William Fortson, who I thought was a bit flaky, but it wasn't my business. Cecily wandered around, looking in stores and talking (which the two of us hadn't done alone in awhile)

"It's so strange with Lily and James now." Cecily said. I nodded.

"I mean it just came out of no where and then BOOM, Lily's all overwhelmed with emotion." She added.

"Well, I knew for a long time that they were meant to be..." I said, sounding quite sappy. Cecily nodded.

"I know. I hope they get to it soon before I clunk their heads together!" she exclaimed laughing.

"I heard Bertha Jorkins saying that Bellatrix is engaged to Rodulphus Lestrange. Remember him? He's a year older I think."

I didn't remember him, but I nodded anyway because I knew who he was.

"Yeah...he used to harass me when I was younger..." she said. I looked at her.

"Are you kidding?!"

"Of course not. I'm surprised you don't remember. You used to stand up for me."

"I-I did?"

Cecily nodded and gave me a smile.

"C'mon, let's get some ice cream." She said.

"It's so cool how you're becoming a Healer." Remus said as he and Kelsey walked along the street.

"Yeah! It's fun. A lot of work, but hopefully Lily and I will begin working at St. Mungo's together." Kelsey said.

"I never saw you as becoming a Healer."

Kelsey laughed.

"Yeah? What did you think?"

"I don't know. I always saw you as a designer or something."

Kelsey raised her eyebrows.

"Well, that's still cool. I should have thought of that before..."

Remus smiled.

"Nah, keep training to become a Healer. It's better." He said. Kelsey gave him a look and shrugged.

"Alright then." She laughed. She glanced at him profile noticing the curve of his nose, his lips, and the strands of light brown hair falling against his forehead. He was better than she ever expected him to be.

"You want to know a secret?" she said, stopping. He turned to her and grinned.

"What?"

"You're the sweetest guy I've ever known."

Remus smiled and gazed at her.

"Right back at you."

Kelsey blushed (she has a tendency to blush).

Remus's smile grew wider and he leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers for a long moment. Kelsey's heart leapt to her throat and her arms automatically went around his neck to keep him there.

'Good Lord, he's good.' Kelsey thought.

Sirius and James walked the streets bumping into people they knew as went.

"Oh damn. Hold on, Prongs. I have to go pick up something at the Quidditch shop. There's probably going to be a line, but I'll get through it.

"Okay," James said. Sirius noticed that he had been a bit spacey lately, but walked briskly away to pick up his ripped Quidditch arm guards none the less.

James wandered out of the main part of Hogsmeade and went by the forest looking out into the sky. He stopped, sat down and took a breath of fresh air. He had kissed her. He had kissed her and she didn't pull back or slap him or whatever he thought she would do. He had never felt so good in his entire life besides the fact she was a damn good kisser. James sat there for a while just looking down at the lake.

Lily sat in front of William and looked out the window. William was talking to her, but she wasn't listening. She kept thinking about James. About his eyes and the way his hair fell into his eyes and his smile. The true one, not the cocky grin. The genuine smile with amazing teeth...

"Lily?"

Lily jumped back into reality. William was looking at her with a quizzical expression.

"Are you alright?

"What? Oh yeah. I'm fine."

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, no."

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out again next time."

Lily paused.

"No..."

DAMN, THAT SOUNDED INSENSITIVE

"I-I mean...I have to go."

"What?" Flustered a hurt William. "Where are you going?!"

"Er... I don't know at the moment, but I have something I need to do."

She smiled and gave him a light apologetic hug before hurrying out the door.

James was still looking out in front of him, deep in thought, but there was a crack of a twig behind him and he whirled around instantly (Quidditch reflexes), gripping his wand.

"Lily," he whispered with a sigh of relief. "You really have a tendency to sneak up of people." He joked. Lily smiled.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"You know when you said that if anything came up, you would still be there?

James nodded slowly. Lily smiled.

"Something came up."

James curved his lips into a smile. It was that smile. Lily smiled wider back. That smile. She looked down for a second, trying to think of what to say. HOW to say it.

"The other day...when you said that I'd find that one guy...did you---"Lily started, but messed up. Finally she shook her head to start over.

"Were you talking about...?"

James knew where this was going and he finally snapped. In one swift movement, he threw his wand to the grass, stepped toward her, pulled her to him and covered her mouth with his.

Lily arched her back and wrapped her arms around his neck. If she was shocked at his abruptness, she didn't show it. Her right hand slid into his hair intertwining into the thick strands. James, at long last, deepened the kiss and and his lips slid against against hers until they finally ran out of oxygen.

James pulled apart from her slowly just enough so he could look into her eyes. Their noses still brushed each others. Lily was breathing heavily, trying to regain the breath she had lost.

"I uh...whoa, I—"he began but Lily stopped him and began to laugh.

"There doesn't need to be an explanation," she whispered. James smiled and leaned down and kissed her again.

"So, you're saying," James began when they stopped again. Lily smiled and shrugged.

"You've got a way, Potter. I must say I was surprised at how much you've changed since last year and you just pulled me right into all of it. Merlin James, you've been driving me crazy this entire year. I can't get you out of my head!" she exclaimed. James laughed.

"You've done that to me for more than five years, Lily. You have no idea what I go through everyday." He said. He looked down at the ground.

"I love you, Lily. I always have." He said deeply. Lily blushed and looked down at the ground as well, biting her lip.

"If what I'm feeling isn't love, James, then I don't know what it is..." she said. She looked up at him and grinned.

"But what I do know is that now, after all these years and the past 18 days...I do love you." She added. James's face lit and his hand rose to her face.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?"

Lily rolled her eyes and pushed at his chest.

"Shut up," she said laughing. James grinned.

"What?" he teased, holding onto her as she pushed against his chest, laughing.

"C'mon James..." she pleaded, laughing. She pulled at his collar and brought his head down to hers.

They stayed like that a long time until James heard Sirius yelling for him clear the way from Hogsmeade. Good Lord, men are good.

A/N: AHHHH!! YAY! Finally I go them together. Took 20 chapters, but I got it! Wow, long gap since I last updated and I'm soooo sorry!!!!!!!!!! I've been busy w/ high school and all that good crap. I swear I'll keep updating quickly! I have soo many ideas!! Love you guys!!!


	21. Reactions

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.

Chapter 21: Reactions

Cecily and I made it to the carriages first and sat for more quite a few minutes until Lily came hopping in as if she was floating on air. She paused and looked at us for a moment with an indescribable look in her eyes. Suddenly, she burst like a balloon.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god...!" she squealed over and over. Cecily and I jumped at the outburst and looked at each other for a second not knowing what to do.

"Lily? What's wrong?"

She looked at us.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong. In fact, I've never been happier in my whole life!" she exclaimed gleefully.

"Why?" I implored. Then I frowned with disappointment.

"Is it William...?" I sighed. She gave me a look as if I was kidding.

"William? Of course not William!" she said and turned directly toward me.

"It happened." She said seriously. I narrowed my eyes a bit.

"What happened?"

"James. Me. Me and James. James and Me...whatever! All I know is that I am in LOVE and he kissed me and I kissed it him and it was beautiful and I have no feelings in my legs." I burst into a smile. FINALLY! Cecily's eyes widened.

"Are you serious? James POTTER?! What happened to your deep loathing toward him?" she asked. Lily swatted her hand.

"I never HATED him... I've realized that. I only thought I did. But he was fifteen and I was fifteen and we both were clueless and here he is now...with no words to describe him..." she answered, trailing off. 'Oh, this is it.' I thought. 'Thank god! It's about time!' I scooted foreword excitedly.

"What about William?"

She shrugged slowly.

"It's a long story. You see, what happened was—"

Lily could go no further, because now Kelsey came waltzing into the carriage. The look on her face glowed and she bit her lip before sitting down next to Lily.

"Kelsey, you will not believe what happened!" Lily exclaimed. She seemed very excited about her now relationship with James. Kelsey grinned.

"Nothing compared to me..." she looked at me.

"Men are soo amazing! He kissed me, Caroline!!!!" she shouted happily. My jaw dropped.

"REMUS?!!"

Her smile grew wider and she nodded.

"And I kissed him back! IT WAS INCREDIBLE!! Oh my god, you have no idea..." she sighed. Lily straightened up.

"I bet I do. Does he have strong lips?" Lily asked. Kelsey creased her brow.

"How can you tell?"

"Did you feel it in your knees?"

"I felt it everywhere." Kelsey said. Lily smiled.

"Yeah, he has strong lips. So does James." She said. Kelsey was about to say something when she whirled to Lily.

"James?!"

Lily blushed and nodded. Kelsey squealed.

"Isn't it incredible to have that FEELING?!" she said. I turned to Cecily.

"Where were we this whole time?"

She laughed and shrugged, while Lily and Kelsey babbled on. Suddenly, right before the carriage lurched foreword, Alice came in. She stood in a small doorway, her hands up.

"People! I am officially in love!"

I gave Cecily another look. Good god.

"What a coincidence. These two hysterical lovebirds are too."

Alice's face lit up. Sitting next to Cecily, she turned to Lily and Kelsey.

"You are?!! With who?!"

Obviously, Lily and Kelsey burst into words that neither Cecily nor I could ever understand. It's love language. This was going to be one fluffy year.

---------

Of course, Sirius and Peter were the first in their carriage and James was the first to arrive. James looked slightly dumbstruck and sat down without saying anything. This was apparently not particularly normal of James so Sirius butt in.

"What's you're problem? I hope it's because you ditched me because—"

James looked up at him now and he had an exceptionally large grin on his face.

"It happened." He said. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?"

James ran a hand through his hair.

"Lily."

"Lily _happened_? Honestly Prongs, she was born in 1960 just like the rest of—"

"No, WE happened! She—she told me she loved me." He said dazedly. Sirius widened his eyes a bit.

"Are you kidding?"

James shook his head and propped his legs up on the rest of the upholstered seating.

"She kissed me."

Sirius choked.

"Well, did you kiss her back?!"

James shot him a look.

"Of course I did, Padfoot! How daft do you think I am?"

"Is that rhetorical?"

James shot him another look. Sirius leaned foreword.

"I thought she was on a date with William Fortson? What the bloody hell happened?! You can't just stop there! You're making bloody history at the moment!" Sirius exclaimed. James grinned.

"I'm not sure what happened with William, but let me tell you what happened with—"

Remus now came into the carriage. It wasn't long before the carriage began to move and he was thrown into a seat. He also looked as if he was in a daze.

"Good God, what happened to you?" Sirius implored at the look on Remus's face.

"I can't feel my legs." He said with a smile. Sirius was no idiot. Throwing up his hands, he gave Remus the same look he had given James.

"Is it Kelsey?"

Remus glanced at him and his smile grew wider. It was pretty self-explanatory of what had happened to him and Sirius sighed, falling back into the seat.

"Where was I this whole time? Both of you!"

"I find it better that you weren't there," Remus joked. "You would have ruined it."

Sirius gave him a mock gasp.

"I resent that, Moony! I most definitely would have not ruined a moment...what ever happened."

James, Remus and Peter all gave him a look as if he thought they were stupid and Sirius crossed his arms.

"Fine." He said.

"Merlin, she was a damned good kisser," James said. Remus smiled.

"Yeah, same with— wait, who's she?" he said turning to James.

"Lily Evans."

Remus's jaw dropped.

"LILY?! You KISSED her? On purpose?"

"Well, yeah on purpose! She kissed ME too, you know!"

Remus curved his lips into a smile.

"So, you two are..."

James grinned. "Crazy, isn't it?"

"Unbelievable!"

"And it's about bloody time!" Sirius added. "That goes for you also, Remus Lupin."

Remus rolled his eyes, before looking out the window.

I had my first Quidditch practice today. You have no idea how exhausting that sport is. Man, I came in that afternoon into the common room just trying to stay awake. I hadn't even bothered with my Quidditch robes. Alice and Cecily were in there doing homework when I came in. Obviously, Lily and Kelsey were off with their boyfriends somewhere doing God-knows what.

"Hey! How was it?" Cecily asked when I trudged through the portrait. I shrugged tiredly before collapsing onto the closest couch.

"Have you done you're Charms homework yet?" Alice asked. I groaned, rubbing my face.

"No...ugh...when is it due?"

"Tomorrow." Alice said.

"God, I am so tired."

"What did you guys do?"

I must have hit that bludger more than a hundred times. I was about to aim right toward James when he told me to do it AGAIN." I said, lazily taking off my gloves. Alice gave me a small smile.

"Well, since this WAS your first Quidditch practice and I'm sure it'll get easier, but for this one time...wanna copy my Charms?" she said. I looked at her. In high school, it was normal for people to copy their friend's homework, but rarely at Hogwarts.

"Really?!"

She smiled and nodded.

"Oh my god, you are the best friend EVER."

She shrugged.

"I know."

I gave her a look and took the piece of parchment she offered me.

I took me about five minutes to copy it and then I fell asleep right there on the couch.

When I woke up, Sirius Black was standing over me.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to fall asleep." I said, closing my eyes again. He chuckled.

"Quidditch is tiresome, eh?"

"You can say that again." I mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Quidditch is tiresome, eh?"

I smirked.

"Okay, Black, leave me alone, so I can sleep before James comes in making me hit that damn thing another thousand times."

Sirius scoffed.

"By the way, do you know where James is?" he added.

"Wherever Lily is." I retorted.

"Do you know where Remus is?"

"Wherever Kelsey is."

He sighed.

"Cecily told me to tell you that if you feel up to it, they went down to dinner about 5 minutes ago."

"Okay." I nodded, eyes STILL closed.

"I'll see you later," he said, and I heard him leave the common room. I lay there for a couple of minutes before letting out a groan.

Thanks to Sirius for waking me up and now I can't get back to sleep. Getting up, I lumbered out of the common room and down to the Great Hall, suddenly realizing how incredible hungry I was.

Lily ran her fingers through her hair and dipped her quill into the ink. She was quite unwillingly doing her Potions paper and from what she was writing, it was absolutely horrible. She sighed, and crumpled up the parchment, and threw it aside. Thinking for a second, she began to write again.

"Hey," came a voice behind her. She jumped a bit before turning around.

"Merlin, James. You scared me." She gasped.

James gave her an apologetic smile before sitting down in front of her.

"What are you doing up so late?" he asked. Lily sighed.

"Potions homework." She said, concentrating back onto her paper.

"I thought you already finished it."

"I should have."

James laughed softly. After a few quiet moments, Lily dropped her quill.

"I'm hopeless! I cannot write!"

James smiled.

"You're not hopeless. Let me see." He took her paper and began to read it silently, while Lily looked on.

"Horrible, isn't it?"

James looked up at her and shook his head.

"It's fine. It doesn't really matter as long as you get the facts right. Whipple doesn't care if you're a good writer or not."

Lily gave him a look as if she wasn't certain, but smiled nonetheless.

"You're sure?"

He nodded. Lily sighed.

"I'll take your word for it." She said and continued to write.

"How was Quidditch practice?"

"Good."

"Caroline was exhausted the last time I saw her. She was asleep on the couch still in her Quidditch robes." Lily said. James laughed.

"She should be. I feel bad now since I made her hit that thing over and over. I'm surprised she didn't come over to me and attack me with her bat."

Lily laughed.

"I'm sure she thought about it."

James looked at her and smiled. They continued to talk for several more minutes until James checked his wristwatch.

"I have to go to bed or I'll never get through practice tomorrow." He said, getting up. Lily looked up.

"You're leaving?"

James grinned and looked down at her.

"You don't want me to leave?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, no, not really."

James smiled.

"Sorry. I'll make it up to you. What are you doing after dinner tomorrow?"

Lily thought for a second.

"Oh, we have a meeting with Dumbledore."

James creased his brow.

"We do?"

Lily gave him a look and smiled.

"I told you yesterday."

"Oh, right."

Lily laughed.

James kissed her gently before walking up the stone stairs to the boy's dormitory.

"Good night."

Lily chewed at the inside of her cheek.

Now she couldn't concentrate. That's what James Potter does to you. She bit her lip and caught herself smiling stupidly. All because of James Potter.

A/N: Hey guys! Next chapter. I'm sorry if this ended up kind of short. I couldn't tell when I was typing it. I hope you people like it! Next chapter is the first Quidditch match, so keep reading!!


	22. Kelsey Wasn't There

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.

Chapter 22: Kelsey Wasn't There

It was the beginning of October and the Quidditch season has begun. I had been practicing for over two weeks every single day and James better be happy with my progress. Frankly, I have improved dramatically if I do say so myself. Everyone on the team was a great help and as gruesome as the practices are, I've never had more fun in my entire life. James is overly-confident about our first game and is absolutely positive that we'll win against Ravenclaw. I was so nervous that day, Cecily threatened to feed me the food if I didn't eat. Now I understood when Harry wouldn't eat before his first game. Finally, Sirius came over and told me I'd be miserable out there if I didn't eat, so I did.

Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Quidditch players left lunch early so they could change and prepare. I sat in the girl's room with Lily, Cecily and Alice changing when James knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" I yelled toward it. James leaned in as if not sure I had fully changed or not. He looked relieved when he realized we were all in there and all I needed to put on was an arm guard and grinned.

"Are you ready?"

I exhaled.

"Let's hope so."

I got up and followed him out. Suddenly he stopped.

"Keep walking straight down there. I just realized I left my girlfriend without saying anything before a Quidditch match." He said with a grin. He retreated back toward the locker rooms and I continued foreword. I hadn't seen Kelsey since breakfast and she hadn't come into the locker room like she promised to. She's probably in the stands cheering with the rest of the Gryffindors.

I continued to wander.

"Damn, now I'm lost."

Although I had been at Hogwarts for over a year, I still can't find places. Or things....or people. Hell, there were times where I'd open a door to a classroom and realize it was broom closet. It's even more embarrassing when there's a snogfest in progress when you open the door. I took a left turn and I stopped.

"Good God! Someone find me!!!"

"Caroline!" came a voice from a distance away.

"Thank you!"

I turned to see Sirius walking into what I discovered was that wooden door thing that Harry was in right before the game began. This was embarrassing.

"Where the bloody hell are you going?" he yelled.

"I'm really not sure."

"Well get your arse over here!"

"Okay, okay..." I mumbled as I hurried over. James was already there and he held out his hand.

"Give me your broom."

Confused, I clutched to the handle.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Nothing, just give it to me."

My first, crazy thought was that he was pulling me off the team. But that wouldn't be logical, so I gave it to him. Taking it, he chucked it over his shoulder. I was about to yell at him in protest but he then held out a brand new broom. And I mean BRAND NEW. It was sleek and shiny with the word COMET on the end.

"What?" I hesitated, taking it.

"It's yours. I bought it." He said.

I jerked my head up.

"You bought it for ME?"

It looked very expensive, but I guessed "expensive" has a different meaning to James Potter. Did he buy one just for me? I mean, I was new to the team, but that wouldn't be fair and James was a very fair person Man, now I felt bad.

"Yeah, the whole team got one."

"Oh, okay. That's good."

The commentator began to speak, cueing me into a run next to Sirius behind those wooden doors. My heart hadn't beaten this hard in my life. Watching Quidditch was absolutely NOTHING like playing it. I was so nervous I began to sweat ever so slightly. Sirius noticed how scared I looked.

"Are you okay?"

"What-oh, yeah I'm good." I lied. I was about to say something else when the doors rose and the sunlight illuminated our faces. I followed James's cue and flipped my leg over my new broomstick. James turned and gave us a last look before soaring out into the stadium, the rest of us right behind him. The Gryffindor stands screamed hoarsely as we flew in formation, me always next to Sirius. I noticed Lily, Cecily and Alice in the stands and waved my beater bat at them. I didn't have time to acknowledge if they had seen me, when ultra-young Madame Hooch blew her whistle sharply. I followed Sirius into our beginning position and waited with extreme apprehension as Madame Hooch looked up at all of us. After a terse lecture, she kicked open the ball case and the two bludgers whizzed up. I ducked as one sped over my head and gripped tighter to my bat. The Snitch flapped up next. I lost sight of it no less than a second since it came out, but I knew James was eyeing it as that very moment.

Madame Hooch took hold of the Quaffle and the stadium was quiet for a long moment. In a sudden swift movement, Madame Hooch threw the Quaffle into the sky, simultaneously screeching into her whistle. I soared upward out of the way of the sudden frenzy of Chasers. The stadium burst into loud shrieks and flags waving.

Taking a brave chance, I entered the main frenzy of players, swerving this way and that. Bludgers burst through openings and nicks of wood cracking against my bat whenever I managed to hit it, which to my stunned and proud surprise, often. Loose strands of my brown hair whipped in my face as I swung a Bludger toward a Ravenclaw Chaser. To my delight, the Bludger smashed into her broom from the side and she swerved off course, giving Jude Wheeler the chance to retrieve the Quaffle from her fumbled grasp. The crowd screamed as Jude pitched the Quaffle through the hoop easily. James shouted brief plan directions to the Chasers before flying to the side out of the way.

James rested still, his eyes carefully looking for the Snitch and keeping a close watch on the Ravenclaw Seeker. He hadn't seen it yet and apparently, neither had the other Seeker. His hand rose to brush back his hair when he stopped. He spotted the Snitch fluttering by Elliot's head and taking one last glance at the Ravenclaw Seeker and then out into the crowds to perhaps where Lily was watching, he bolted toward it with an agile, flying elegance that had no competition from anyone else.

Lily watched carefully, keeping an eye on James to see whenever he'd seen the Snitch. He looked so good when he played Quidditch. She could say that now that they were together. She looked onward to Caroline who swerved in between two Chasers courageously. She turned to Cecily and Alice.

"Where's Kelsey?"

They both shrugged so Lily assumed she was lost in the crowd and sitting somewhere else. Looking back up into the game, she watched James sit still waiting. Suddenly, completely by surprise, James zoomed downward at a speed to fast for Lily to know.

"JAMES POTTER HAS SEEN THE SNITCH! THERE'S HOWARD, RAVENCLAW SEEKER, RIGHT BEHIND HIM..." the commentator yelled. Lily jumped up as she watched James speed through the stadium. She yelled words of sincere encouragement and beamed at him. Then, Cecily elbowed her.

"Look!" she yelled over the crowd and pointed toward a Bludger. It was pummeling right towards James. The blood drained from Lily's face.

The whole game seemed to stop while James and Howard raced toward the Snitch and it wasn't until I noticed out of the corner of my eye a Bludger streaking through the air that I took my eyes off the two Seekers. The Bludger was getting much to close to comfort toward the two Seekers and if not more, seemed to be heading directly towards them. I looked around madly for Sirius and finally caught his eyes.

"Sirius!" I yelled and pointed toward the Bludger heading right towards James. Sirius sprang into action. Motioning his hand in panic for me to follow, he tore through the wind after the Bludger. Taking his lead, I skyrocketed forward as fast as I could go. He came from the left of the two Seekers; I came from the right, both heading in the same direction. Raising my bat apprehensively, I took notice how it could crash into James at any moment now. Howard caught sight of it and flew upward slightly so it wouldn't hit him. James took no notice of it. He was so close to the Snitch, the world around him was motionless. When he was in arm's length of the tiny gold ball, he stretched out his arm and reached forward and...

"JAMES!!" screamed two voices from either side of him. Jerking his head to the side, he caught just one glimpse of a dark ball meet his eye. The Bludger slammed into his outstretched arm with a tremendous amount of speed. There was a chilling crack as the ball met his bone and his arm snapped in an awkward position. He let out a loud yell of pain that seemed to echo into the stadium. His arm collapsed onto his broom and he screamed silently through gritted teeth in agony, tears stinging his eyes.

When Sirius and I realized the Bludger had already hit, we tried to stop but our amount of speed made it unstoppable. Letting out a slight scream, I collided with James and Sirius, Sirius's broom jutting into my side. The pain was awful and I yelped spasmodically. With all the strength I could find, I rose up out of the way, but Sirius's bat met my shin with a force no faster than James's bludger.

Uncontrollably, I screamed in pure agony when my leg twitched to the side and then went limp. Tears began to flow freely, until I realized the Bludger coming back towards us, toward Sirius from behind. Before I could say a thing, the Bludger skimmed Sirius back, but still hit him with force most likely FASTER than James's Bludger. Sirius let out a shout of sharp pain and tumbled forward from the impact before James could catch him with his free hand. Sirius, though indeed in far more pain than any of us, he reached and grabbed onto his broom with both hands, dangling in the air, trying to mount it again. The pain was too much for him to try. He moaned inwardly as his back throbbed painfully.

Lily leaned forward in horror, speechless.

"Oh no..." she gasped. Turning toward Cecily and Alice with a panicked look in her eyes, she hurried down from the stands.

"Come on! I don't know what happened to James or any of them but I'm not waiting around to find out!" she yelled behind her and ran fearfully down the wooden steps.

I closed my eyes and waited hopefully for Madame Hooch to blow her whistle and wished for the pain to stop. I could hear the crowd gasping and making sounds of anguish and I could not believe this had to happen. I blamed myself over and over quietly until finally Madame Hooch's whistle screeched into the air. I willingly, flew down to the ground as did James and (as carefully as possible) Sirius. Madame Pomphrey, McGonagall, and Dumbledore himself came hurrying onto the field. One of the other nurses took hold of my elbow and helped me hop across the field. Madame Pomphrey, McGonagall and Dumbledore helped Sirius, who was injured above all of us. James insisted on staying with Sirius and did stay with him, much to the protests of Madame Pomphrey.

They took all three of us back under the bleachers and made us sit down (except for Sirius, who lay down on a stretcher). Students were spilling in to see what had happened, but the staff made a ring around the crowd to keep them out. Lily pushed through the wild students persistently and hurried toward us but was blocked by the ring of teachers. Dumbledore allowed her to come in, but Cecily and Alice were not.

"James!" she said loudly over the crowd of shouting students. James, who had been talking to Sirius while Madame Pomphrey mended his arm, looked up and smiled widely.

"Hey," he said.

"Oh Merlin..." Lily began, shaking her head. She hurried toward him and threw her arms around his neck. James wrapped his good arm around her and let his broken arm (which was now in a sling) hang at her side.

"Are you alright?" she whispered into his neck. He exhaled deeply.

"I'm fine. I just broke my arm."

"I should say so! Even though I wasn't completely sure what had happened to you, I heard the crack clear from the Gryffindor stands." Lily said, pulling away. She touched his bad arm softly, gingerly running a finger over the growing bruise. She looked up at him and frowned.

"Where'd the black eye come from?" she asked, her hand rising to his cheek.

"Probably when those two slammed into me." He said, nodding toward Caroline and Sirius. Lily looked them over.

"What happened to Caroline?"

"Broke her leg. Sirius's bat hit it. That was when she screamed."

Lily grimaced.

"What about Sirius?" she said uneasily, knowing he had it worst. James looked over at him and shrugged.

"I don't know. The Bludger hit him in the back." He said. Lily winced as if feeling all three of their pain together.

"I'm sorry James..."

James shook his head.

"It's fine. Madame Pomphrey can put us back together again easily." He said. There was something else in his voice and in his eyes that made Lily think there was something else. After a few moments, she looked up at him and sighed.

"Howard got the Snitch, James." She said, knowing he was most likely well aware of this. James ran his hand through his hair.

"I know." He said quickly, looking away from her. Lily caught his gaze again.

"It's alright, James. It's only the first game. Besides, you didn't technically lose. If the Bludger hadn't gotten in the way, you would have caught the Snitch."

James knew that, but the game still hung heavily in his mind. Although, hearing it from Lily raised his spirits quite a bit. Smiling, he nodded and leaned down and kissed her deeply and for as long as possible, not wanting her to leave his side. Unfortunately, Madame Pomphrey interrupted them.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black and Miss Lefave must be taken to the Hospital Wing immediately,"

Madame Pomphrey announced. "And ONLY them."

After much protest from James and me, she allowed Lily, Cecily, Alice and Kelsey come too. When we arrived at the hospital wing, everyone was there except Kelsey. Remus came hurrying in no more than a second after we arrived.

Madame Pomphrey allowed me to go back up to the common room first. It took some time to walk up the stairs with my healing leg, but it gave me time to think of excuses why Kelsey wasn't there. She must have been at the game. Of course she was at the game. She wouldn't have missed it but it seemed strange she never came to see any of us after what had happened. By the time I had made it up to the Fat Lady, my excuses had run out. My anger was rising as I stumbled stupidly into the common room. There was quite a crowd in the common room. Mostly first years, who found Sirius and James and Remus fascinating in every way. They didn't seem to notice when I came in which in my mood, was most likely a good thing. I bent down to rub my aching leg that was killing me after the long walk up here.

"Caroline!" came a voice from the top of the stairs. I looked up and Kelsey came running toward me with a fearful look in her face. (An expression similar to the one when I got "lost" in a shopping mall when we were 14.) A/n: hee hee hee.

"I heard what happened! Are you alright?!"

My anger was boiling at the most and I glared at her.

"You HEARD what happened?"

Kelsey froze. "Caroline, I--"she began, but I interrupted her.

"You weren't there, were you?" I said coldly.

Kelsey didn't say anything.

"WERE YOU?!" I shouted. The students in the common room began to look up. Kelsey seemed to be thinking really quickly, but didn't succeed. She looked down at the ground.

"No, I wasn't."

I scoffed.

"If I remember correctly, you told me—no, you PROMISED me you'd be there and you'd see me after the game!" I yelled. Kelsey looked up.

"I'm sorry Caroline, it's just—"she looked around at the students and leaned foreword and whispered, "Tomorrow's a full moon. I won't be able to see Remus at all tomorrow. I forgot and I was with him all afternoon. I'm so sorry, Caroline. I didn't realize---"

"YOU DIDN"T REALIZE THAT THE ENTIRE STUDENT BODY WAS OUT SCREAMING IN THE QUIDDITCH STADIUM!" I yelled.

"LOOK, I'M SORRY!" Kelsey yelled. Her anger was rising. "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?!"

I didn't answer that certain question but I didn't cease in screaming.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?!" OF ALL THINGS YOU CAN MISS HERE, YOU MISS MY FIRST QUIDDITCH GAME! AND—AND YOU WERE WITH REMUS!"

"CAROLINE, I LIKE HIM! I REALLY, REALLY LIKE HIM! YOU KNOW THAT BETTER THAN ANYONE IN THIS WORLD! WHY ARE YOU MAKING SUCH A BIG DEAL OUT OF THIS?! YOUR NEXT GAME IS IN TWO WEEKS! I"LL BE AT ALL OF THEM! I PROM—"

"YOU PROMISE?!" I roared. "YOU PROMISE?! HOW CAN I BELIEVE YOU IF ALL YOU DO IS BREAK THEM?!"

"I'M NOT GOING TO BREAK THEM! IT WAS JUST TODAY! I WAS JUST WITH REM—"

"GOOD GOD! YOU ARE ALWAYS WITH REMUS! WHAT ABOUT ME, KELSEY?! YOU'VE KNOWN ME SINCE I WAS IN GRADE 6 AND NOW I NEVER SEE YOU EVER!"

"IS THAT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT?! MY BOYFRIEND?! WELL, DON"T BLAME JUST ME OR HIM FOR THIS CAROLINE, BECAUSE I NEVER SEE YOU ANYMORE EITHER! YOU THINK YOU'RE ON TOP OF THE WORLD WITH YOUR AUROR STUDIES AND QUIDDITCH!

"I DIDN'T ASK TO BE PUT ON THE QUIDDITCH TEAM, KELSEY AND IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, YOU WANTED ME TO GO FOR THE TEAM! AND STUDYING TO BE AN AUROR HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT EITHER SO JUST SHUT UP!

Kelsey shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. I was already crying.

"You know what?! I don't care anymore!" she yelled and spun on her heel toward the stairs.

"Oh...NO. I'M NOT DONE YET!" I screamed. I whipped out my wand. Shouting a spell at the top of my lungs, I shot cords out and wrapped them around Kelsey's hands and ankles. She didn't fall however, but would have if she had moved. I started to yell all sorts of things that didn't make sense to me at all. When I wasn't looking, Kelsey managed to get her wand out of her back pocket and untie the cords. She aimed her wand threateningly at me, glaring coldly.

"I DON"T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE PROBLEM IS, CAROLINE BUT YOU BETTER SHUT UP! I'M SORRY I MISSED THE GAME ALRIGHT?! MERLIN, YOU JUST FREAK OUT OVER THE SMALLEST THINGS!"

I was about to retort another yell when,

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!!" came a loud voice from the portrait entrance. James stood there looking more Head Boy then ever and walked over so he stood between us. Neither I nor Kelsey said anything. The Common Room was deathly silent. I looked behind me. Sirius, Lily, Remus, Alice and Cecily were standing there absolutely stunned. There were First Years whispering with dumbstruck looks on their faces. Some Prefects seemed to be trying to get them up to their dormitories.

"WILL ONE OF YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?!" James shouted, looking quite angry. His own wand was out. I glared coldly at Kelsey and lowered my wand which had been aiming at James's chest.

"Nothing. Everything is just peachy." I said, angry tears streaming from my face. Kelsey was crying too but I was too mad to care. I turned and glanced at Sirius, Lily, Remus, Alice and Cecily before walked toward the stairs. I stopped in front of Kelsey and shook my head. I pushed past her roughly and hurried up to the dormitory, fuming. The Common Room was deathly silent again and all eyes were on Kelsey. James turned toward her and lowered his wand. She did the same.

"What happened?" he asked. Kelsey looked down and then burst into sobs. Remus began to step foreword but Sirius stopped him.

"Nothing. Everything's just fine. She's...just upset...about the...game," Kelsey heaved between sobs and ran toward the portrait door. Pushing between Lily and Remus, she ran out into the castle.

"Kelsey—" Remus began but she was already out of sight. Glancing at the others, Remus pushed through the portrait after her. James put his wand back in his robe pocket. He looked at Lily, who still stood stunned in the doorway.

"You don't have any idea why they would get in a fight?" he asked. Lily shook her head.

"They were friends before they came to Hogwarts. They've never fought before." Lily said. She seemed shaken by it all. Sirius glanced around the Common Room then nodded toward Cecily's cousin, Trevor McKinnon, a Fourth Year.

"Hey, did you see what happened?"

"Yeah. They were yelling about the Quidditch match and breaking promises or something."

It didn't make much sense to any of them. Sirius rubbed his forehead.

"Okay, my back hurts at the moment, so I'll see you people later. Hell, my head hurts too..." He said and limped up the stairs. Alice and Cecily hurried up to the dormitory to see what they could do and since the action was over, the other students left leaving Lily and James in the room alone. James ran a hand through his hair and sat down on a couch. Lily sat down next to him. He looked quite frustrated. At the moment, there were quite a few things to be frustrated about and it was perfectly understandable.

"Are you alright?" she asked. He looked up at her and gave her a small smile.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired." He said, resting his broken arm on his leg. Lily sighed quietly.

"Come here," she said. James looked up at her again and smiled. Turning around, he lay down and put his head in Lily's lap. Lily's hand went to his hair and she began to run her fingers through it, looking out the window.

"How does your arm feel?

"It doesn't hurt much anymore. I won't need the sling by tomorrow." He said, his eyes closed. Lily nodded.

"You really scared me out there today at the match." Lily said softly. "I mean, when I heard the snap of the broken arm and then the three of you collided, I thought you were much for injured than you ended up being." She said, her voice slightly breaking. James opened his eyes and stared up at her.

"I'm sorry,"

Lily smiled and shook her head.

"It already happened. And you came out with just a broken arm and a black eye." She said, laughing lightly.

"Makes me look tougher, doesn't it?" he said, with a smirking grin, his eyes closed again. Lily laughed.

"Oh yeah, very tough," she laughed, her hand running over his jaw line.

"No, it really does. That's why girls find me so irresistible."

Lily scoffed and slapped his hard chest. (A/N: hard meaning muscles)

"OW!"

"Oh yeah, I've really fawned over you," she said, shaking her head.

"I bet you did. But you had a 'reputation' to keep up."

"HA! I had a reputation. If I'm not mistaken, you had quite the 'reputation' yourself."

"True, but at least my reputation got its benefits."

"Like what?"

"You."

Lily smiled and laughed lightly.

"I'm glad you handled Caroline and Kelsey earlier. I don't know how I would have. You did it very well.

James grinned and opened his eyes for the first time in a few minutes.

"And that is why I am Head Boy."

"True, although I still don't understand why you got the badge in the first place..."

"Oh please...what would you do without me?

Lily didn't know if he meant it personally or as Head Boy, but either way she didn't know what she would do without him.

"I wouldn't be able to go on!" she said, overly dramatic. James didn't know if she meant it personally or as Head Girl but he felt the same.

"Can I say one thing before I stop talking? Because yes, I know I talk too much."

Lily smiled.

"Okay..."

"I love you."

Lily smiled wider and leaned foreword, covering his lips with hers.

A/N: WOW, yay! I finished. Took me a while! Sorry! Well, I had to get some LJ fluff in there b/c they are soo cute together!!! This was a bit dramatic. But drama is always nice. Next chapter, don't expect Caroline and Kelsey to make up.


	23. Voldemort Strikes in the Heart

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.

Chapter 23: Voldemort Strikes in the Heart

Kelsey ran down the stairs, stumbling and crying as she went. She had never fought with a friend in her entire life. Especially like that. Rushing out the entrance hall, she hurried out into the courtyard. When she could run no longer, she collapsed onto a bench, and bent her head, hugging her arms to her chest as they rested on her legs. The heaving sobs had disappeared and the crying of guilt spill out onto her face. She had never regretted anything more than missing that Quidditch game. She had no idea how important it was to Caroline. She truly wished she could go back in time and fix it, but not even a time-turner could change that. Brushing her hair back, she looked up as if trying to make her tears fall back into her eyes. Obviously not succeeding, she bent her head and leaned forward, tears beginning to stream once again.

--Remus jumped down the last flight of stairs, now wishing this year's Apparation tests were sooner. He skidded to a halt in the entrance hall, not entirely sure where Kelsey would go.

"Kelsey?"

Assuming she ran outside (as he would have done if he was in her situation), he walked briskly out into the courtyard.

"Kelsey!" he shouted out into the courtyard. Some people who were out there turned at the abrupt yell and he gave them an embarrassed, apologizing look.

"Oh, sorry," he said and hurried away. Kelsey, who had heard someone calling her, looked up. Remus found her quickly and slowly walked toward her, unsure what to do or say.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, um, I'm fine...I just need some air, I guess. I—"Kelsey stuttered, her voice breaking. She looked down quickly again, her lower lip trembling, not wanting Remus to see her crying. Of all people, he was the last person. Remus looked down, not knowing what to do. Sighing slightly, he walked toward her and sat down next to her.

"Want to tell me what happened?"

Kelsey shivered from the fall breeze and looked up, breathing faster, her puffy eyes watering again. She didn't say anything.

"Let me guess..." Remus said. "Caroline was angry you weren't at her first Quidditch game because you were with me and after what happened at the game today, she thinks that you don't care about her anymore even though you've known her longer than any of us and she thinks that your friendship is dissolving and you two are drifting apart and that she can't trust you anymore." He said simply. Kelsey raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Wow, you're good."

Remus smiled weakly and shrugged.

"I know these things. Now, listen to me." He began and turned to face her.

"You two have known each other longer than any of us have known you and I definitely do not want anything to happen to that. Now, if Caroline is upset that you're spending so much time with me, then I won't be offended if you want to—"

"What?! No!" Kelsey exclaimed, her eyes widening. She turned to face him completely. "Absolutely not! I wouldn't do that, Remus—No, Caroline isn't mad about you and me. It's not just that. It's more that we never see each other anymore...I mean, she's working her arse off on her Auror stuff because you have to have top grades for that and I'm all in my Healer stuff and I need top grades for that too..." Kelsey trailed off, not knowing how to continue. Remus smiled, flattered at Kelsey's persistence and thought for second.

"Alright. Next Hogsmeade trip is in a week. I'm literally making you do this, okay? I want you to spend Hogsmeade with Caroline. I'll hang out with Sirius and Peter. But YOU need to talk to her."

Kelsey hesitated.

"But Remus, I—"

He stopped her.

"No buts. You WILL go to Hogsmeade with Caroline whether you like it or not so you can figure this out and then...I'll make it up to you."

Kelsey laughed, her tears gone. Raising an eyebrow, she gave him a look.

"You'll make it up to me?

Remus returned her look with a grin.

"Alright, is it a deal?" he asked, holding out his hand. Kelsey eyed it warily. She rolled her eyes smiling and leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He had really smooth skin. Remus grinned and then creased his eyebrows.

"What? I'm saving your friendship here and that's all I get?" he said smiling. Kelsey smiled and without hesitation, leaned forward once again and kissed him for a very long moment, which Remus gladly returned.

That night, when usually the five of us would stay up with Hogsmeade candies and talk about girlish topics, we all went to bed early. None of us said a word while we got ready for bed. I hadn't bothered to change out of my Quidditch robes, or brush my teeth for that matter (I know, gross.), so I lay down on my bed and turned towards the wall without saying a word. Lily came up about thirty minutes after Cecily and Alice came up. The two of them had tried to reason with me but I was stubborn and refused to hear them out. When Lily came up, they three of them talked in hushed voices so I couldn't hear. I didn't give a damn what they were talking about. I tucked the blankets up to my neck and looked at the wall expressionless. Nothing changed when Kelsey came in. I could hear her pause in the doorway and then walk over to her bed. When Lily, Cecily and Alice went down to dinner, they said they'd bring something up for us, knowing we wouldn't go down ourselves. I wasn't hungry. I fell asleep at 8:00 and didn't get up in the morning until breakfast was clear over. At maybe 9:30, not long before classes started, I did get dressed and brush my teeth for 10 minutes and pack my bag. It was a good thing I had gotten all my homework done before the Quidditch game. James had told me that if you have Quidditch and classes, do you homework before Quidditch and it makes the season easier.

I came into Transfiguration only five seconds before the bell rang. I would have gotten there sooner but my leg delayed me a bit. Professor McGonagall condoned my nearly tardy appearance in class and, get this, made ELIZABETH (Bellatrix's little crony) assist me because of my leg. You should have seen the look on her face. I listened intently to Professor McGonagall's lesson. I had a new surge of determination since yesterday to outdo myself in my classes. Almost like proving something to my "dear" friend Kelsey. I avoided her in the hallways and didn't speak or look at her during Potions (one of the classes we had together). It was worse during meals. They were quiet and awkward. Kelsey and I ate and didn't say a word. Lily, Alice and Cecily tried to make conversation with each other or tried with me or Kelsey. It didn't work. Kelsey and I would leave the table early (at separate times of course), and then go to class. As much as I was angry, I still had this empty feeling, but I ignored it.

Gryffindor Quidditch practices were postponed at McGonagall's request much to all of our dismay. We understood of course, since Sirius was still recovering. James and I had minor injuries and they healed completely by the next day. It would take longer for Sirius's back to heal fully and James understood. Nevertheless, he arranged that we still have practice but we wouldn't play. We would discuss strategies and game plans. James was smart enough to know that this would help in the end and we would slaughter Hufflepuff in two weeks and then Slytherin after that. If we won both, then we would move to the Cup championship as Lily had said. As much as James loved Quidditch, he enjoyed the fact that the practices were not as often, meaning he could spend more time with Lily. They only times he could ever see her was at meals, in between classes, after classes and during patrolling. Now that Quidditch wasn't a huge obstacle, he could see her more often, which they both thoroughly enjoyed.

The day did not get any better for anyone when, after classes, Professor McGonagall stalked into the common room where the majority of the house was sitting. Her face was white and her lips were pursed. All looked up from whatever they were doing, unsure of what was going on. I sat with Cecily, Alice, Lily and miserably, Kelsey when she walked briskly into the room.

"Cecily McKinnon." She said. Cecily looked up.

"Come with me." McGonagall said calmly. Cecily hesitated with confusion and then got up. We gave her looks as if she knew what was going on. She shrugged and followed McGonagall out of the common room. Assuming it was nothing, I continued to work on my Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. The clock ticked slowly and it seemed ages since Cecily had left. It must have been forty minutes when the portrait swung open and Cecily came in. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was very pale. She seemed to have trouble breathing regularly and she was speechless. When she saw us, she came over and leaned against the back of the couch looking down at her feet.

"What happened?"

Cecily looked up when Alice asked this and her breathing quickened.

"My parents..." She stuttered. She choked on what I knew were tears. The entire common room was quiet by now, but she was talking very quietly to just the four of us, so no one heard what exactly she was saying.

"They...you-know-who...he-" she tried.

James watched from a chair on the other side of the room as Alice's hand rose to her mouth and Lily's face fell to her hands. Caroline was staring blankly with a sad look on her face and Kelsey bent her head. Cecily whispered something hoarsely and then hurried up to the common room. He had a sick feeling in his stomach, but he himself didn't know what had happened. Lily seemed to be in a great deal of distress and he really wanted to go over there, but he fought the urge not to. Not now.

I froze when Cecily told us. They were dead. Her parents. Her sister Marlene was injured but lived and will be fine. Apparently she had graduated when we were in fifth year and I obviously hadn't seen her before. One of Voldemort's death eaters had killed them. I then remembered in the 1st Harry Potter book when Hagrid said Voldemort had killed the best Wizarding families. The McKinnons, Bones... I knew this. Why couldn't I have done something? Standing up, I glanced at Kelsey and then turned to her with a straight look.

"I need to talk to you." I said sternly. She just looked at me.

"Huh." she said coldly. My mouth twitched in aggravation and then nodded toward a small room connected to the common room. She got up and went in and I followed.

"What is it" she said, crossing her arms once I had closed the doors.

"I knew the McKinnons were going to die." I said.

"How?"

"Because it said so in the first book."

Kelsey didn't move.

"Well that's good to know. It's a little late now."

I inhaled to control my anger at Kelsey's reaction.

"Why couldn't we save them? We know so much more than they do and we couldn't even save a family. Our friend's family for that matter."

Kelsey arms fell to her sides.

"You actually think we can save everyone?"

I didn't say anything. Kelsey scoffed and shook her head.

"We may know more than the entire Ministry, but we don't know much more than what was in those books and we cannot possibly save every person Voldemort and the death eater's kill. It's impossible."

"It's not impossible." I said stubbornly. Kelsey threw up her hands.

"Yes! It is! We are still in school! It is IMPOSSIBLE to save everyone!"

"Well, we can try! That's why we were sent here!"

"We only know so much, Caroline! And that's why you're becoming an Auror, am I right?! So you can save the world! We can save our friends but we can't save the families or the people that we don't even know about! Hell, we don't even know how Lily's parents die! Or-or James's parents die! WE DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING!" Kelsey yelled quite loudly. Thank goodness the walls were stone.

"Look, I'm just trying to help these people and I don't want my friends suffering through it all, all right?! And you're standing there like it's no big deal!" I yelled.

"You actually THINK I don't care?! How can you SAY that?! I'm just being logical! We didn't know WHEN the McKinnons were going to die, so we couldn't save them! And you CANNOT deny that!" Kelsey shouted back. I wasn't denying it! I let out a groan of frustration.

"Fine! Sorry I wasted your precious time!" I yelled and stormed out of the room.

"Fine!" Kelsey yelled after me and stalked out of the room after me. Without thought, I thumped out of the common room and out into the castle. Kelsey turned in the opposite direction and ran up to the dormitory.

"Kels--, Caroline?" Lily looked up as we stormed in opposite directions. She looked at Alice, who was shaking her head.

"This is getting out of control..." Alice whispered. She sighed and left, hurrying up to the dormitory. Lily propped her elbows up on her legs and let her head fall her into her head. She rubbed in temples in pain from the headache that had come.

"Are you alright?"

Lily looked up as James sat down next to her.

"Oh, yeah, I...--no..." Lily looked down at her lap.

"Her parents are dead."

"Cecily's?"

Lily nodded.

"You-know-who...he...Merlin..." Her head fell to James's shoulder. She felt like crying. She wouldn't know what to do if it were her parents. She couldn't start to imagine. James put his arm around her.

"It's alright. I'm sure that--..." he didn't know what to say. He knew very well it wasn't alright but he did all he could to comfort Lily as much as possible.

"The Ministry will handle it." He finally said, satisfied. He felt Lily nod against his neck.

"I know...but still, they..."

"Yeah."

Lily sat up.

"And then there's Kelsey and Caroline."

"Ah, well Remus is already making them go to Hogsmeade together next trip. He feels a bit guilty for it all."

"And that'll work?" Lily asked. James shrugged.

"We'll see. You never know."

Lily looked up at the ceiling.

"I hope so."

Lily paused for a few seconds until finally the tears welled up in her eyes and her shoulder began to shake.

"Hey, you don't need to cry, Lily," James said quietly, pulling her to him. Needing the comfort, Lily wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

"I can't seem to help anyone...not Caroline or Kelsey...there's nothing I can do to help Cecily...I can't do anything for them and it kills me...I don't know what to do..." she cried, muffled by James's robe. James held her against him and comforted her the best he could, hating to hear her cry. The deepness of James's voice soothed Lily like a mother rocking a baby until she fell into a deep asleep against his chest.

A/N: Wow, soo so so sorry about the long delay there. This chapter is a bit shorter than I thought it was...I was gone for a couple days and the make up work was massive and I was in a bit of a writer's block for a few weeks, but that's over and I have big plans for next few chappys! Love you guys!!


	24. The Terror of Dependence

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment…but don't you wish?!

Chapter 24: The Terror of Dependence

Lily woke up on the couch, with a blanket draped across her shoulders. Sitting up, she blinked as the sun split through the window. Checking her wrist watch, she realized it was almost nine thirty. She had nearly slept through breakfast. Getting up, she realized she was still in her clothes from the day before so she hurried up to the dormitory. No one was in there, so she checked her appearance in the mirror. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were slight puffy from the night before. Looking towards Cecily's bed, she saw that the bed was made and her trunk and luggage were gone. She had left. Lily brushed her hair, changed and brushed her teeth before going down to the Great Hall.

Lily entered the Great Hall and sat down next to Alice and looked at the food in front of her. She wasn't very hungry. Alice, Caroline and Kelsey were picking at their food but hardly eating as well. Caroline had her forehead propped up by her hand and looked as though she hadn't slept at all. When Lily sat down, Kelsey looked up and smiled slightly, but went back to picking at her breakfast.

"Cecily left?" Lily asked quietly. Alice nodded.

"Early this morning. You were asleep in the common room and she didn't want to wake you." She said, miserably.

"That's not all of it." Caroline whispered, speaking for the first time. "Cecily's parents weren't the only families killed. Four others were killed too….They were all Muggle-born."

Lily blinked.

"But Cecily is from a wizarding family."

"I know." And that was all that was said. None of them stayed much longer, there was nothing to do or say. James had had a meeting with Dumbledore, so he wasn't a breakfast. It was a Head meeting, but James didn't want to wake Lily so he went without her. It had taken a little bit of time for him to slide out from the couch (with Lily lying against him) last night, but he managed to. Feeling terrible to wake her, he put a blanket over her and went up to the dormitory. Cecily's parents' murder had hit her hard and he hoped she wouldn't find out about the four Muggle-born families killed. He didn't know how well she could take that.

"I suppose that wraps up this meeting, James. Say hello to Lily for me." Dumbledore said.

"Yes sir."

"I take it she's upset about Miss McKinnon?"

"That's most of it, Professor." James said.

"I see, well, please let her know personally from myself, that everything will be alright."

"I'll do that. Thank you sir." James said and left for class.

James met up with Sirius, Remus and Peter in the hallway just before the first bell rang.

"How was it?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing big." James said, shrugging.

"I reckon you discussed the murders then?" Remus inquired.

"Not very much actually."

"You should hear the Slytherins talk. They're gloating till no end."

James's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Even Snape?"

Sirius smirked.

"He's one of the worst."

"Why am I not surprised? He's swimming in Dark Arts," James grumbled. The second bell rang so the four of them split off toward their classes. James and Sirius hurried into Defense Against the Dark Arts seconds before they would have been late. James sat down behind Caroline and Sirius hurried to his seat caddy-cornered from him. James leaned forward in his seat and whispered to Caroline.

"Have you seen Lily?"

I jumped slightly, startled, but turned my head to the side and nodded.

"At breakfast."

"She woke up then?"

"If she was at breakfast then yes, James, she did wake up."

James rolled his eyes.

"How was she? Was she alright?"

I sighed.

"She was as bad as all of us. None of us ate; none of us said anything and were miserable the entire morning."

James grimaced.

"You all took it pretty hard."

"Cecily is one of our best friends, James; of course we took it hard."

"That's not all of it, you know. Lily is completely stressed and upset about you and Kelsey. Will you two just get a grip and-"  
"Mr. Potter?! Quiet down please!"

James stopped and leaned back in his seat. I looked down at the wood of the table miserably. I had no idea how Lily felt about Kelsey and I not getting along anymore. I felt downright terrible about how our entire group of friends were falling apart. And now that Cecily's parents were dead…I had never felt so selfish in my whole life.

Defense Against the Dark Arts seemed to last for ages. When the bell rang, I leapt out of my seat and hurried out the door, utterly ashamed to face James or Sirius. Potions class was next and I dreaded that even more. Every one of us was in Potions together.

Lily walked down the corridor to potions alone. Kelsey had to go to the bathroom and they split halfway to class from Charms. Lily felt bad to have practically slept through the Head meeting, but the thought of Cecily and the ongoing arguments between Caroline and Kelsey made her want to go back to the dormitory again. So much was on her mind she didn't even realize when someone came up beside her.

"Evans."

Lily was so startled she almost swung her arm out in self-defense as a reflex, but stopped when she realized who it was. It was Severus Snape. Lily continued to walk, if not faster and did not make eye contact with him.

"What do you want, Snape?"

Snape kept up with her.

"I heard about your friend McKinnon."

"So?"

"I would have loved to see it; McGonagall coming in to tell her that her parents were dead."

Lily said nothing.

"Of course, she deserved it; Frolicking around with the accounts of you Mudbloods."

Lily took in a breath and glared at him.

"Where is this going Snape? Because I really have a class to go to."

"What a coincidence, Evans. I'm in the same class as you."

Fantastic, Lily thought.

"You and Potter make such an adorable couple. I knew you'd give into his ridiculous charms soon enough."

"Leave me alone, Snape. If James was here, oh, he'd—"

"But he's NOT here, is he?"

Lily glared at him coldly and began to walk away.

"I'd watch your self, Mudblood. You and your parents could be next. I can see it now…the bodies…that Dark Mark…"

Lily opened her mouth in horror, but nothing came out.

"That'd be too much for your darling Potter, wouldn't it?"

Lily trembled in rage and horror. Her face had gone ghastly white. She turned on her heel and hurried to Potions; Snape right behind her.

Lily stormed into the classroom, shaking from head to toe. She whirled her head toward Snape with one last sad glare, before sitting down in a huff. I looked up when she came in the door and noticed the way she acted toward Snape. I glanced slightly at James but he hadn't noticed. Her desk was next to mine, so when she sat down, I glanced at her until she caught my eyes. A line had formed between her eyebrows as if she was devastated and angry at the same time.

"What's wrong?" I mouthed to her. She looked down and shook her head. I looked behind me at Snape and then back at Lily, who was attempting to concentrate on Fillpot's lesson.

After class, Lily seemed to be in a hurry to leave, so I grabbed her arm before she bolted for the door.

"Caroline, I have to get to class-"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"Bullshit."

"It's nothing!"

"Is it Snape?"

"No! I mean—"

She glanced at James and then dragged me out the door and around the corner. When she was satisfied that no one could hear, she told me about her encounter with Snape. When she finished, I thought quietly.

"You need to tell James, Lily." I said. Her eyes widened.

"Are you insane?! Tell JAMES that SNAPE is threatening ME? Yeah, that'll be amicable. No way, no one is telling James. Promise me now. Do Not Tell James."

"Why not? He'll know what to do!" I argued.

"No, he'll freak out. I would not be shocked if he killed him." She said.

"But—"

"No. You cannot tell James."

"Tell me what?"

Lily and I whirled around to see James standing behind us with his arms across his chest. I jumped at the chance.

"That Sn—"

Lily's foot came out of no where and her heel slammed into my five toes at once. My mouth opened and I clenched my teeth in pain.

"That SIRIUS has a surprise for you." Lily said quickly.

Sirius came around the corner promptly as this was said. He looked up.

"I'm what?"

I decided to make it even harder for Lily:

"That surprise Lily's been talking to you about! Right, Lily?"

She gave me a look.

"I have a surprise?" Sirius asked slowly.

I smirked, "Sure you do! Lily was just telling me how awesome it is!" Lily gaped at me. Though I felt a twinge of regret, this was fun.

James was half-believing this. He turned his head toward Sirius.

"What surprise?"

"What- you think I know?" he said, pressing his hand against his chest, gesturing to himself. He looked me, utterly confused searching for some sort of explanation from me. I smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Right? Remember?" I said to him. Lily had brought her hand up to her face in pure embarrassment. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Sure…?" he said. I was about to say something else, but then Lily grabbed my arm.

"Look at the time! James, I'll meet you after class! Love you!" she exclaimed and dragged me down the hallway. James looked after her.

"What was that about?" he asked to Remus, Sirius and Peter.

"Apparently…a surprise." Peter said, unconvinced. All four of them were. Sirius shook his head.

"Nah, there's more to it." He said.

"Maybe she's in some death-threatening trouble." Remus said, half-sarcastically. James glanced at him.

"Thanks, Moony."

"Honestly, I'm sure it's nothing. Women have their own secrets. It's probably something that we don't WANT to know about." Remus said. James wasn't convinced.

"I'll ask Caroline at Quidditch practice, Prongs." Sirius said.

Lily wasn't able to reach Kelsey or Alice about what happened with Snape which ended up being fortunate since Remus asked Kelsey what was bothering Lily and she obviously didn't know what he was talking about. This convinced Remus, Sirius and Peter further, but James remained skeptical. Sirius assured him that he would ask Caroline at Quidditch, but this didn't help James much. His concern for Lily's strange behavior was getting the better of him.

---I was shining my COMET during practice when Sirius came up beside me. I looked up and gave him a smile to acknowledge he was there before concentrating back on my broomstick. He sat down on the grass next to me, picking at the blades on the ground.

"Want to talk about something?" he asked, resting his elbows on his knees as he continued to rip a single blade of grass into pieces. I stopped, thinking very quickly. Finally, I looked up and narrowed my eyes.

"No…why?"

Sirius shrugged.

"I mean, what's going on with this surprise thing?"

"Oh that. We were just playing with your heads. It's nothing. Did you see me? I was just embarrassing Lily." I stammered. Sirius arched an eyebrow as I fell silent. He didn't say anything for several moments making me extremely uncomfortable and awkward.

"That's not all of it, is it?" he finally said.

"No, really! There's nothing else. We were just talking about girl stuff and joking around. Nothing's going on." I said a bit too urgently and quickly. Sirius shook his head.

"Look, Caroline. James is really worried about her. If there's anything—"

"Sirius! There's nothing!" I lied, giving him an unconvincing glare. Sirius seemed to be trying to read my facial expression, and then finally shrugged.

"Fine." He said and got up. He turned and looked down at me. "If you feel like talking, I'm here."

"Okay." I said, not looking at him.

"By the way, Hogsmeade is coming up at the end of the semester." He said.

"I know."

"Remus is making you go with Kelsey."

"I know." I said miserably. Sirius crossed his arms angrily at the tone of my voice.

"You know, a lot of horrible things are happening right now and you two fighting is driving us all bloody mad so you two better get a grip of yourselves soon." He said sternly, his voice raising. I looked up at him, shocked at his slight outburst. I turned my head so he wouldn't see how ashamed I felt. Sirius sighed, relaxing his shoulders, the gentleness coming back to his face. He knelt down in front of me, leaning back on the heels of his Quidditch boots.

"Look, Remus told me why you two were fighting. And…I know exactly how you feel."

I turned to look at him.

"I've got it worse than you do. I mean, it was fine with Remus and Kelsey, and then James and Lily get together and—don't get me wrong, it's great! James finally getting Lily and Remus finally having the guts and Kelsey not minding he's a werewolf…but, it's different than it used to be, you know?"

Sirius was sitting again now.

"So, it's just…you guys just have to get over it. It's ridiculous it's gone THIS far. Just watch: She'll be at every single of our next games."

I nodded.

"Okay." He said and got up.

Once he was out of sight and hearing, I groaned and rubbed my head. I had never had so many issues in my life at once.

----I was lying on my bed after dinner doing homework when Lily came in. Alice and Kelsey, who were in the bathroom applying make-up to each other, stopped what they were doing and poked their heads out the door. Lily was silent, but looked terribly white. Her body was shaking as she pulled out a chair and collapsed into it.

"Lil—" Alice began, but stopped. When Lily looked up, her eyes were puffy and red. Her smooth, clean complexion was pasty and her hair was not as neat as it had been earlier.

"Merlin, Lily…are you alright?" Alice whispered. Lily took in some large breaths and shook her head.

"He came up to me again. Snape. It was even worse. He said things—it seemed like it was true. I don't think he's bluffing…he—he described my parents' death. They're not dead. They wrote me this morning, but…you should've heard him. He—" her voice broke and she stopped. Suddenly she broke down into tears.

"Caroline, I'm scared." She stammered seeing only me in the main dormitory. Alice and Kelsey stood horrified in the bathroom doorway. I got up and sat in a chair opposite her.

"Lily."

She looked up, lower lip trembling.

"You have to tell James." I said bluntly in deep concern. She looked at me for a long time and then shook her head weakly.

"I can't." she whispered. I slumped my shoulders.

"Lily, please tell—"

"No. I can't depend on him all the time, Caroline."

"You've never depended on him before."

Lily shook her head.

"Lily, do you have any idea how worried he is about you right now? I've had Sirius AND James come up to me asking about you." I protested.

"Remus asked me." Kelsey said.

Lily got up and walked over to her bed.

"No, I'll figure this out on my own." She said. We were quiet after that. I glanced behind me at Kelsey and suddenly my conversation with Sirius came to my head. How can I not get along with my best friend when we have friends who need us more now than ever? Maybe Kelsey and I can sort this out before Hogsmeade…

---James was leaning against the stone wall of the corridor when he heard footsteps behind him. He smiled and turned but not to find Lily, but Caroline. I smiled awkwardly as he raised an eyebrow.

"Where's Lily?"

"Yeah, I was sent by her to tell you that she won't be able to patrol tonight."

"Why? Is she alright?"

"Yeah, yeah…she's fine. She's not feeling well, that's all." I said. Avoiding any further explanations, I turned and began to walk away.

"Wait, Caroline!"

Reluctantly, I turned around. James came up to me.

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is Lily alright?"

I suddenly seriously considered blurting it all out, but for the sake of one of my very good friends, I kept my mouth shut.

"Please tell me Caroline. She wasn't herself today and…please. Is she in trouble?"

I was silent. James was watching me very intently.

"I—she's—" I began, but I didn't know what to say. I shook my head and ran off before I could say anymore, leaving a frustrated, and concerned James in the corridor.

A/N: Here it is! Chapter 24! Woo hoo! I'm personally proud of this one actually. In the next chapter, Lily is still being a bit stubborn, but her desperate independence is dribbling out from her need for James. Also, look for some new interaction between Kelsey and Caroline-this time, maybe not so distant this time… AND, Caroline seeks some emotional assistance from Sirius Black.


	25. Progression

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment…but don't you wish?!

Chapter 25: Progression

I had so much on my mind. Here's a list:

Lily

Kelsey and me

Cecily

Classes

Quidditch (James would kill me is he knew it was so low on the list, but there's more to life than Quidditch, my friends.)

Firstly, Lily was becoming a problem. The days passing with her were hell. She was jumpy, spasmodic, cranky every once in a while and terrified. The few times I saw her being herself was the times she spent with James, but even then she was different. (And James noticed.) It was even worse with Snape in a few of our classes. He'd been saying a lot worse now according to Lily. Alice, Kelsey and I are continuously trying to convince her into telling James. I just didn't understand what kept her from telling him! Oh right, she didn't want to depend on him and bring him into it. Okay, seriously. If I was Lily, I'd tell James in a heartbeat but noooo… Miss Independent has to keep it from him. Of course, I can see the point Lily is coming from. James would probably kill Snape with his bare hands if he found out. Lily tells us not to get involved with this for our own sakes but being the great friends we are, of course we butt into it. Alice even wrote Cecily (who is still with family) and told her what was going on. First thing Cecily asks: _Has she told James?_

I tell you! It what needs to be done! When two people love each other like Lily and James do, you go to them for help when you need them the most! It's practically a law.

Speaking of HELP, this is where number two comes in. Kelsey. Sirius was right. This has gone too far and I had to tell her or TALK to her. She was my best friend! SO, why is it so hard to speak to her? I needed some major emotional support. I couldn't talk to Lily…not right now anyways. Of course not Kelsey…and Alice wouldn't hurt a fly and had never been in my situation (although I did ask her)…Cecily wasn't here…So, what do I do? Talk to Sirius Black.

Not that talking to Sirius is easy. I had come to know him very well in the past year and a half but this is SIRIUS BLACK. I read about this guy in books for YEARS! It's like meeting Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp or something. It's nerve-racking. I would get the guts to go up to him…and then turn around. Luckily, Sirius got to me first.

"Hey." I heard him behind me. I (who had been sitting under the shade of a tree in the courtyard doing homework) turned around.

"Hey."

It was at this moment that Kelsey walked by. Sirius and I turned but Kelsey kept walking without even caring to look at us.

"Have you talked to Kelsey?" Sirius asked although knowing the answer. I looked away from him.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I…I don't know. She's just…" I couldn't find the words to explain it to him. I turned and looked at Kelsey, who was talking with Remus and Alice, and shook my head. "I don't know what to do."

Sirius was quiet for a moment and to hide my awkwardness, I looked back down at my parchments.

"Want to go for a walk?" he asked.

"Yes." I said a bit too instantly. Sirius smirked and held out his hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet. Flinging my book bag over my shoulder, I walked beside him as we began to wander across the grounds.

"Have to said a word to her at all?" he asked,

"I said hi yesterday." I said brightly, this itself being an accomplishment. Sirius gave me a look.

"Fine, what do I say?" I said, stopping to look at him directly.

"Oh I don't know…_I'm sorry_?" he said, drenched in sarcasm.

"That won't do anything. 'Hey, Kelsey! I'm sorry for practically ruining your life and making it a living, lonely hell. Forgive me?' Yeah, Sirius, that's sincere."

"Don't be daft, Caroline. You know what I mean. You have to add to it-really mean it. You do want to make up, right?"

"Of course I do."

"Then tell her WHY you're apologizing. Make it come from here." He said, jabbing at the upper left side of my chest. I continued to walk again.

"She won't listen to me anyways."

"And you know this for a fact?"

"Sirius, YOU know this for a fact. You saw it back there! She won't even look at me!"

"That's because YOU won't look at her."

I was about to interrupt until he suddenly covered his hand over my mouth. I considered sticking my tongue out like you're supposed to do so he would let go, but the look in his eyes made me fall silent.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe she's thinking the exact same thing you are?"

I was about to protest and say yes, I have but had I really? Had I ever thought of what Kelsey felt? Sirius was looking straight at me waiting for an answer. My silence must have givin him the assumption that he was right.

"No." he echoed my invisible words. I didn't say anything.

"You know what you need?" he asked. I looked up at him. He walked in front of me, but turned so he was facing me and walking backwards.

"What?"

"You need to de-stress."

"Sirius-"

"I'm not kidding. Yell it all out right now. Scream it. In fact, hit me if you want to."

I rolled my eyes and laughed loudly.

"Okay, we're getting somewhere. Scream."

"Sirius, I'm not going to scream-"

"Scream! As loud as you can."

"No!"

"Caroline, trust me. I'll scream with you."

"I really don't—"

"Caroline!"

Without saying another word, I grinned and then bent foreword and SCREAMED as loud as possible. I mean, I SCREAMED. Sirius smiled wildly and then joined in so we were both two incredibly loud voices splitting across the grounds. Mid-scream, we both burst out into laughter at how absolutely ridiculous we must have seemed. After we had both regained our regular breathing cycle, Sirius put a friendly hand on my back and grinned.

"Feel any better?"

"Actually, I feel loads better."

"Good. Now that that's done. Mind telling me what ELSE is on your mind?"

I thought for a second. I decided to skip Lily for certain reasons, of course, Kelsey and I were already talked about…I didn't feel like talking about Cecily. It always got quiet and uncomfortable and it was in the Daily Prophet every day…okay, classes. Truthfully, my grades were dropping drastically. I was barely getting at Acceptable in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I NEEDED those NEWTS. You can't get into Auror training without nearly ALL Outstandings.

"I don't know if I'm going to pass the semester…or the year if you go that far." I said.

"Why not?"

"I'm not like you and James, Sirius. You get Outstandings without even trying. I try and…I swear I'm failing."

Sirius didn't say anything. It was almost like he was waiting for something. I suddenly felt like I was going to vomit: I just spilled.

"And then if I don't get ALL Outstandings or at least above Exceeds Expectations, I'll never get out this school and get into Auror training which I'm trying to work so hard for because after Cecily's parents died, I feel I have this job to help people especially with Voldemort all high and mighty. If I don't pass, I'll be that freaky, lonely woman on the streets begging for Knuts so I can buy bread or something and I'll never move on and get married and have kids and I'll stay at this school forever….without a life."

I closed my eyes and exhaled my first breath.

Sirius raised his eyebrows and blinked.

"Do you want help?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like with classes. I mean, Charms and DADA I can live with, but if it's Transfiguration, I'm there!"

I smiled.

"That's nice but…I don't need help."

Sirius arched an eyebrow and gave me a quizzical look.

"Fine, you can just ask Whipple or Fillpot."

"No!" I exclaimed abruptly, "I mean…I hate asking teachers for help. It has to do with pride or something stupid like that."

"Oh, trust me. Pride I'm familiar with. But I'm serious. I will help you if you want."

I hesitated.

"Look, we won't call it tutoring so you don't feel stupid. I'm just merely helping you pass so you don't become that freaky, lonely woman begging for Knuts." He joked with a grin. I laughed.

"Um…yeah, okay. Sure!" It sounded like fun. It was Sirius's turn to smile.

"Alright, check that dilemma off. What's next?"

Quidditch wasn't a DILEMMA, but it was definitely on my mind.

"Is your back well enough for Quidditch?" I asked. Sirius nodded.

"Oh yeah, it was just….really REALLY painful."

"I can imagine."

"I'm sorry about your leg by the way. I didn't mean for my bat to swing out like that."

I shrugged it off.

"No, it's fine. Madame Pomfrey healed it pretty quickly."

"Good."

"Do we still have a chance of winning the Cup?"

Sirius grinned excitedly.

"Absolutely! We're going to beat Slytherin AND Hufflepuff to the ground. There's no doubt in my mind that the Cup is ours!" He exclaimed. I arched an eyebrow.

"Do you have any idea how much you sounded like James just then?"

Sirius laughed.

"Let's just say I share his passionfor Quidditch."

I grinned.

"Still going to Hogsmeade with Kelsey?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Do I really have a choice?"

Sirius smiled and shook his head.

"Probably not."

Suddenly, the bell rang from the castle, making us both turn our heads.

"Well," Sirius began. "If things with you and Kelsey go as you want it to, I'm here if you need company." He said.

"What about P-"

"As much as Peter is a very good friend of mine, sometimes I just want to get away."

Knowing the truth about the "future of Peter", I highly agreed.

"Besides, I'm in practically in all of your classes; you're my other half in Quidditch and we're going to go into Auror training together (he said this with a reassuring look) and I hardly know that much about you. Even after seven years as same-year-Gryffindors."

I wish I could say the same thing about Sirius but I knew more about him than he thought. Although, there was a lot more to him than I seemed and I didn't know much about YOUNG Sirius. Only FUGITIVE Sirius. I smiled.

"IF things go as planned." I reminded him. "But, yeah. I could use the company."

Sirius smiled.

"Good."

"PADFOOT!"

We both turned at James's voice to where he was standing with Lily.

"Where the bloody have you been?" he asked.

"I was with Caroline."

James arched an eyebrow coyly at Sirius.

"Hate to break it up but McGonagall's going to skin me alive if I'm late again. If I remember correctly, she said the same thing to you."

Sirius rolled his eyes and grinned.

"I'm coming."

He turned back to me.

"Well, I'll see you later."

James kissed Lily (quite passionately in fact) goodbye and hurried off with Sirius. I came up to Lily's side and we both walked into the castle together. From the look on Lily's face, James's kiss seemed to have taken her breath away.

"Are you alright?" I asked with a smile. She looked her normal self for at this time and she looked at me with light-hearted smile.

"That was a good kiss." She whispered, her chest rising. I smirked and elbowed her in the rib but then lowered my head slowly.

"Hate to burst your bubble Lily, but have you said anything to James?"

"No."

"Lily…"

"Look, I know you're concerned. Actually, I'm flattered you actually care about me that much but James doesn't need to know. This is between me and Snape and it doesn't involve James."

"He's going to find out sooner or later. You realize that? He's smart. He knows you too well for you to try and hide it from him."

"I'm trying not to think about that. You KNOW what he'd do if he found out." Lily said. "I don't want him to get expelled."

I smirked.

"Lily, it's a miracle he hasn't been expelled in the past seven years…"

Lily smiled affectionately.

"That's true."

"Miss Lefave." Came a stern voice from behind me. It was Professor McGonagall. Lily gave me a wary glance wondering if I knew what McGonagall wanted. I shrugged in response.

"I'll see you later." Lily said and walked off to class. I turned to Professor McGonagall nervously, having never been alone speaking to her before.

"Miss Lefave, I'm afraid your grades are becoming much to low if you want to keep up to become an Auror. I know you are aware that they will not except anyone having pretty much lower than Outstanding."

I sighed.

"I know Professor…Sirius is going to help me. I really want to become an Auror, it's just harder work than I expected.

The hardness in Professor McGonagall's face lessened.

"I understand that Miss McKinnon's tragedy was hard and I understand that Quidditch is time-consuming but it won't cut it when you leave in June. I'll give you some slack this time but if your grades don't come up, I'm afraid it will be nearly impossible for you to have a chance of becoming an Auror."

"Okay."

McGonagall gave me a single nod and turned on her heel.

"Oh, and Miss Lefave?

I looked up.

"Let's win that Quidditch Cup this year. From what Mr. Potter tells me, you have quite a potential."

I smiled.

And for the first time ever, Professor McGonagall's thin lips curved briefly and left.

It was very late when Lily and James returned from patrolling after a cocky fourth year decided he had the right to walk around after hours because he was convinced he'd be Prefect next year and that The Head Boy and Girl couldn't boss him around. He was quite wrong after James was through with him and Lily teased James the entire night saying how that boy was just like him (James did not find this as amusing at Lily). The two of them were so exhausted when they returned to the Common Room, James collapsed onto the couch, pulling Lily down with him.

"James, if you're so tired, a bed is just up those stairs…" Lily said, smiling. James had closed his eyes and shook his head.

"It's too far away." He said deeply. Lily giggled softly.

"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow." Lily said, yawning. James creased his brow, but his eyes remained closed.

"No...Stay here with me." He said, tightening his grip around her waist, pulling her closer so that she was lying closely next to him. Lily smiled and rested her head in the crook of his neck. She felt very protected lying in James's arms and for an instant, her worries of Snape slipped away….for an instant…

_She was standing in her house, but suddenly, the roof shattered and the walls crumbled around her to ruins. There was an eerie mist hovering around the rubble and Lily looked around for any sign of life. Walking into what used to be the living room; she clapped her hands over to her mouth and screamed in agony. Her parents' bodies lay in odd positions, their eyes wide and afraid. Dead. Her mother's eyes were glazed and her mouth hung open with a look of horror. Her father lay with the same expression. Petunia was standing in the middle, very much alive._

_"This is your fault." She growled. "Because of YOU, they're dead." _

_Lily tried to shake her head but Petunia took no notice. High above the house, the Dark Mark- an awful skeletal head with a snake slithering through it- illuminated her parents and Petunia's faces and then there was a high, bone-chilling laugh. A green light engulfed Lily's sight and then blackened…_

Lily gasped, jerking her head up. She was sweating, but her face was mixed with horrified tears. Her breathing was rabid and her heart was pounding so fast, she couldn't even hear herself breath. Her vision was blurred momentarily and then she suddenly realized she was in the Common Room. She was about to sit up until she felt someone next to her. It was James. She had completely forgotten she had fallen asleep with him on the couch. Her breathing went back to normal and smiled in relief, glad to see him again. His arm was still around her waist, it being the only thing helping her from falling off the couch. She sighed, brushing a strand of his black hair out of his closed eyes. Caroline was right. She couldn't go on without telling him…but how? She check James's wristwatch. If was only about 3:00. No wonder she was tired and weary. Lily curled warmly into James's chest, fiddling with his shirt buttons. She didn't know if she would go back to sleep after that dream. Finally, sleep consumed her once again and she fell asleep, her head on James's chest, his breath tickling her hair and his heart beating next to her ear soothingly.

James woke up, the sunlight streaking into the large room. The opened his eyes only to blink painfully and close them again. He had forgotten to take his glasses off and the adjustment gave him a sudden headache. He felt the weight over his left arm and he smiled down at Lily who was curled up against his chest. He moved his neck and groaned inwardly. He had the worst crick in his neck and down his back. He tried to move without waking Lily and cursed to himself when he felt Lily stir. Lily moved her head, her arm rising to rub her forehead from the sudden sunlight. She felt James move and curse above and she looked up into his face and smiled.

"Good Morning…" she crooned in her usual morning voice.

"I didn't mean to wake you. If you're still tired then go back to sleep. Sorry…" he said quickly, his voice hoarse and then grinned. "But Good Morning anyways."

Lily laughed.

"It's okay, I'm awake.

James smiled again and nodded. He slid out from underneath her and turned on his side, so he was lying next to her. Lily ran a hand through her hair and turned on her side as well so she could look at him. When she looked up, he was already staring at her, with a look of disbelief on his face.

"What?" she asked.

"God, you're beautiful." He whispered, shaking his head. Lily smiled and scoffed softly.

"I never realized how pathetic you look in the morning, James." She teased, tugging down on a strand of his hair. He laughed and reached up and took her hand that was brushing down his hair.

"It won't do any good." He said. Lily shrugged.

"I kind of like it now. It's pretty sexy."

James gave her a surprised look.

"Really?"

Lily laughed and leaned in and kissed him.

"Don't go telling people that." She said, running a hand down his jaw.

"Are you kidding? I should write that down…"

Lily laughed and kissed him again deeply. James pulled her closer so she couldn't pull away and deepened the kiss, turning it into the passionate kiss he had wanted. Lily breathed blissfully and began to run a hand under his shirt, fingering the buttons provocatively. James pulled back a bit, their noses still touching.

"You keep that up and we'll go a bit farther than you want too…" he growled deeply. Lily giggled pulling him back to her lips again, running a hand up and down his chest.

"You would just love that, wouldn't you?" she murmured, brushing her lips against his. James scoffed.

"You certainly have a low opinion of me, don't you?"

Lily smiled.

"None lower."

"I think my self security just dropped drastically, Lily Evans." James whispered hoarsely with a grin. Lily eyed him coolly and with one swift movement, she lifted herself on her right arm so she was above James and seductively lowered her head towards his lips. Their lips met passionately and James's hand moved to the back of her neck, running his fingers through her hair. She had never kissed him like this before and quite frankly, he completely forgot he was in the Common Room. Even at Hogwarts. He felt like he was on his broomstick, soaring higher than he ever had before. When they very reluctantly drew apart, James was trying to keep himself breathing normally. Lily had taken the opportunity to literally vacuum the oxygen out of his lungs. James exhaled deeply and looked up at her, grinning. Lily threw her head back and laughed at his haughty expression.

"How's you're self security now? Rose a bit?"

"Just a tad."

Lily smiled.

"Good. I think you underestimated me there from the look on your face." She joked.

James laughed.

"I never did."

They smiled at each other for a long moment, speechless.

"Well, I'm glad you're back to your old self," James said.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, I mean, you've been acting a bit odd lately."

Lily suddenly remembered what Caroline had said yesterday. He couldn't possibly know…maybe he did and was waiting for the moment. No, he wouldn't wait…maybe he'd seen Snape confront her and he was now asking her about it for the first time. Her thoughts trailed to Snape again. Why wouldn't he just stop? Couldn't he just leave her be?

"It just won't stop…" Lily whispered. James's eyebrows rose.

"What?"

Lily jerked out of her thoughts. Oh god, she had said it out loud!

"I mean—"

"What won't stop?"

Lily shook her head.

"Nothing, Nevermind."

Lily quickly got up and checked a clock.

"I'd better get ready for class. I'll see you later."

"Lily, wait!" James exclaimed, reaching out to grab her arm but missing.

"Merlin, I'm going to be late. I'll see you soon, James. Bye!"

"Lily! What's wr—"

But Lily had already left. Now, James KNEW something was wrong and he wasn't resting until he found out.

I sat across from Kelsey at breakfast, glancing every few seconds trying to figure out what to say. I had taken Sirius's advise and now I was trying to succeed. Alice had stayed up doing homework and had slept in, so it was just me and Kelsey.

"H-Hey Kelsey?"

Kelsey looked up from her textbook.

"Look...I—" I was stuttering now and Kelsey was waiting.

"How-How are classes going?" I mentally scolded myself. Not exactly the way I wanted that to start out. Kelsey raised an eyebrow.

"They're good."

"Good…good." I mumbled. "So…you're still going to become a Healer?"

Kelsey looked up again.

"Yeah, I think that it's something I want to do now."

"Yeah, it sounds exciting."

"Well, I think Auror training is a bit more exciting if you ask me." She said, smirking. I managed a half-smile. I was making some progress. Wait until I tell Sirius.

"It's really hard though. I'll probably never make it. It takes a while."

"Apparently, according to OOTP." Kelsey replied, using the acronym for Order of the Phoenix so no one would know.

It was silent for a couple minutes. Apologize, damn it. Apologize!

"Um, Kelsey?"

Again, Kelsey looked up at me.

"I'm—I'm sorry." I said quickly and quietly.

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Kelsey closed her book and was looking at me intently.

"For being a really big git lately. I know you were spending the day with Remus. I would have too if he was my boyfriend…and I'm sorry for thinking you don't care about Cecily's parents and everyone You-Know-Who has and will kill. I was just frustrated…I didn't mean anything."

Kelsey's cold laden eyes softened and she smiled at me slightly for the first time in days.

"Did Sirius write that out for you or do you really mean that?"

"Oh, no, no, no. I came up with that on my own. And I meant every word…"

Kelsey sighed slightly.

"I'm sorry too actually. I've never fought with a friend in my entire life. Especially you."

"So…are we okay?"

Kelsey's smiled faded a bit.

"Caroline, I'm not saying I'm completely made up with you. I mean, you did ignore me but…let's just not go too far with this whole fight or we'll never speak again."

"Alright."

Kelsey checked her watch.

"I need to go brush my teeth. I'll see you later." Kelsey got up and left the Great Hall. I exhaled triumphantly. I think this is the start of a fresh beginning.

A/N: Alright, sorry it took me so long. Things just keep getting in the way. So, things are looking up for Kelsey and Caroline. But not so good for Lily, eh? Well, I'm very proud of that Lily and James fluff in this chapter. I'm getting so much better at writing those kinds of things. YAY! See more of it in the future. James is finding out more by the second but will he discover by chapter 26? We'll see…


	26. A FlingThing

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment…but don't you wish!

Chapter 26: A Fling…Thing.

I had never really gotten mail in my two years at Hogwarts and I was severely surprised when a letter dropped in my lap one morning. Lily and Alice were busy reading their own mail and took no notice of it. Kelsey, on the other hand, had. When the letter fell to me, Kelsey glanced at Alice and Lily then back to me, giving me a quizzical look. I shrugged at her; I myself not knowing who it was from. She gestured me to open, which I did.

I raised my eyebrows. It was from Cecily. It was addressed to only me, so I hid it slightly under the table so I wouldn't be forced to read it aloud.

_Dear Caroline, _

_I feel bad not addressing it to all of you but there are some matters in here that concern people that are probably sitting around you so make sure they don't read this. Well, they can hear this part:_

_I'm doing much better. I'll be back to Hogwarts after the winter break. There are a few more things Marlene and I have to sort out concerning my parents' deaths. Thank you for all of you guys' support through this. It'll be fine, I promise. Okay, this is private: Alice wrote me the other day again about Lily. What are you going to do? Has she said anything to James yet? I don't know about you but I think it's ridiculous she won't tell him. Caroline, you and Lily see him more than others because you're in Quidditch. You have to say something. DO something. She must have slipped something by now. I'm not even there and I'm worried about this. Keep me updated. _

_Alright, this concerns YOU only. What the bloody hell is going on with you and Kelsey now? PLEASE tell me you've made up! I will be very disappointed if you aren't. It was such a stupid argument. _

_Here's some information for anyone's benefit. Keep reading the Daily Prophet. You-Know-Who's been killing more. Some aren't even wizarding families. My sister wants me to return to Hogwarts sooner because it's one of the only places safe now. Unfortunately, my parents liked to collect things and it's going to take longer than we thought. I just want you to make sure your families are safe. _

_I hope all is fine for now and I'll write again soon._

_Sincerely,_

_ Cecily McKinnon_

"Caroline?"

I looked up at Alice.

"Who's the letter from?"

Damn.

"Oh, my mum."

Kelsey raised her eyebrows at me.

"Your mother? Has she ever written before?"

"Er, well, she tries but she's still not used to the whole owl thing."

Cecily and Lily nodded and went back to what ever they were doing. Kelsey had not taken her eyes off me. I mouthed that I'd explain later and she reluctantly went back to her business.

After our last class of the day, I managed to get hold of Lily without James around-a miracle in its own right. She turned and grabbed my arm almost immediately and dragged me a little ways from the crowds of students.

"I wanted to talk to you." She said.

"About what?"

"I'm worried about something."

I immediately thought of Snape.

"It's probably rubbish, but-"

"What is it?"

She looked at me intently.

"I'm worried about me and James."

"What? Why?"

"I'm worried it's going to just come to a plateau. And just…" Lily cut horizontally through the air with her hand. I didn't say anything. She exhaled and flung her hands to grip my arms.

"I don't want that to happen! It's not happening right now, let me tell you (I smirked at this) but I just get so paranoid of like where we're going to be in say, five years. (My smile faded) But I love him, Caroline! I love him so much, I just…I don't want anything to happen."

I smiled.

"Lily, I'll promise you something. And you really have to trust me on this because I know. Seriously. You and James will be together for a VERY long time. Just don't think about that right now. You're both young. Wing it. You're going to be together for a long time. I know."

Lily's distressed expression softened and she smiled.

"You always know what to say to make me feel better."

"No, seriously. I KNOW."

She smiled and shrugged.

"Thanks. I know its rubbish. I'm just being daft."

She turned.

"I think I'm going to talk to him about it though." She said.

"Good. Communication is good."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

I watched her walk away, shaking my head and smiling to myself. A plateau… Ha.

Lily, paranoia diminished, still agreed to herself she would talk to James about it. Then she would know exactly how he felt about it. How serious he felt their relationship is or should be and she would be able to sleep better. She waited for him to come out of Defense Against the Dark Arts and took his arm the second she saw him emerge form the door with Sirius. James jerked towards her, not realizing who it was but he smiled when he saw that it was Lily. She smiled at him and pulled him closer so he could hear her.

"I need to talk to you in private." She said. James immediately thought of what had been bothering him for days now. Ever since the morning on the couch. Now, she was finally going to tell him. He didn't want to upset her and hadn't pressed the matter and now this was it.

"Okay." He said. He turned and nodded at Sirius, who understood and hurried off. James turned back toward Lily.

"Come one. We'll go to the lake." He said, taking her hand.

They stood under the shade of the birch tree, their hands locked and Lily, looking at James's profile, wondered if she should truly tell him what she was thinking. She was so worried he would be insulted and she really WOULD ruin their relationship. No, she told herself. It's better just knowing what he thought so I won't think about it every bloody second.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" James asked, breaking her thought. Lily chewed at her cheek and turned so she was standing in front of him. She sighed and looked up at him. James could hear his heart pounding in his chest. This it, he thought. She was going to tell him what was wrong. What had been killing him for days now.

"James, I need to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Please don't take this offensively. Please...I just need to know." she said quickly.

"Are you all right?"

"Me? I'm fine. It's just..."

James watched her intently.

"Do you see this," she motioned her hand back and forth expressing her point she was talking about the two of them, " As just something that's going to go away?"

"What?"

"I mean, do you see the two of us as like, just a fling...thing?"

"What? Why are you asking me this?"

"I'm so sorry James! I really am! I just-I just want to know if you see me as...something real or-or just something that you're just going to-"

"Lily."

"Yeah?" Lily exhaled, her voice quavering nervously. She looked down at their hands.

"I'm sorry, James. I didn't mean-" she let go of him and began to turn around, ashamed of herself. I never should have asked, she thought. James quickly took her hand.

"Lily, wait."

He pulled her back to him and lifted her chin.

"What made you think that I didn't take our relationship seriously?"

Lily didn't answer. She just stared at him. He raised his thumb and brushed it over her lips.

"Because I do." He said. Lily continued to just stare at him, having lost her voice.

"Here, I want to give you something." He said. He reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a gold necklace in the shape of a flower. In the middle was a fair-sized diamond.

"Oh, James..." Lily breathed. She delicately touched the side as if it would shatter at her touch. " You got this for..me?" she asked as if it wasn't possible.

"It was my mothers." he said. Lily's hand shot back to her side.

"Oh, Merlin. I can't take that. I don't deserve something that was your mother's!" she gasped. James smiled at her modesty.

"No, let me explain."

He took it in his palm to show it to her.

"My mother hoped that she'd pass it on to her daughter, who'd pass it on to her daughter and so on and so on but she got me instead."

"Oh, I feel sorry for her."

"Do you want to hear this?"

"Yes, of course. Sorry."

"Anyways, she never got a daughter. So, when I turned sixteen, she gave it me and she said that I would give it to the one person who I cared for and loved more than anyone else as, well, a substitute for a daughter I guess."

Lily let out a breath and touched her collarbone.

"And…you're giving it to..."

James was so close to Lily now that she couldn't finish the question.

"Yeah, I am." His voice was barely a whisper. "Because that one person, that person that I care for and love more than anyone else, is you. I've carried it with me everyday since she gave it to me. I always knew I was going to give it to you."

"But you got it when you were sixteen. That was before we-"

James smirked. "I know."

Without taking his eyes off her, he lifted the chain over her head and around her neck.

"Even in a hundred years, it'll always be meant for you."

At this, Lily burst into tears. Before James could say something, Lily flung her arms around his neck and clung to him so tightly, she barely had her feet on the ground. James wrapped her arms around her, not only trying to support her but himself. His eyes widened and he exhaled into her hair in shock.

"Well, I'm glad you like it, I didn't quite expect this but it's always-"

"Oh shite James..." Lily sobbed into his shoulder. "I just ask you if you took this relationship seriously and then you gave me this...You have no idea how selfish I feel! I don't know why you do all this for me, James. I don't deserve it."

"You deserve all of it, Lily."

"No I don't. Merlin, why are you so nice to me? After all those years and after all those things I've said and you still put up with me and tell me that you love me when you could do so much better than me..."

James couldn't help but smile into Lily's hair. HE should be the one saying that.

"S-so, I'm take it you like the necklace?" he asked.

Lily laughed through her sobs.

"Like it? I love it! I love it so much, James. So much. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed like an excited 10 year old receiving a birthday present. It made James's grin wider. It wasn't for a few seconds that James realized that Lily hold on him may be a bit _too _tight.

"I hate to ruin the moment Lily, but oxygen is _really_ becoming an issue."

Lily laughed and pulled back. She smiled at him and shook her head; her eyes still brimmed with tears. She leaned back into him, her nose brushing his. She put a finger to his lips before she reached up and slipped his glasses of his face.

"Too bad." she whispered. James barely had the time to smile before Lily had brought her lips to his. They met perfectly, they fit perfectly and there was nothing else more perfect despite the fact that James was close to the need of life support (right now, he could have cared less). James tightened his grip around her waist, lifting her off her tiptoes. Lily had her arms wrapped around her neck-Good thing too because she would have gone tumbling out of James's arms if they weren't. Lily's doubts were completely and utterly gone and would never return to her mind again. Then again, nothing was on their minds at the moment. Besides each other, of course. It had become perfectly clear to both of them that this was never and never will be just a fling...thing.

"It's no use, Sirius!" I slammed by Transfiguration book down. The table shook and Madame Pince glared, thin-lipped at me, which I could have cared less of what that old hag thought. Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I have never heard of someone with less patience than you. Look, just try again."

I raised my wand.

"Concentrate on pronunciation and think hard on it."

I strained my brain for a long moment and then tried the spell again and for the first time in my life, it worked perfectly!

"Did you see that!" I exclaimed excitedly to Sirius, bouncing in my seat.

"See?" he said, grinning. "You can do it; just concentrate and it's not hard."

I did it successfully four more times and Sirius had to take my wand before I wet myself.

Halfway through Charms, I glanced around me uninterestedly when suddenly the breath left my lungs. Lily had walked in and there was Snape. I closed my mouth quickly so Sirius wouldn't see that I had dropped my jaw. He was still explaining a charm, so I frantically turned back to him, trying hard not to concentrate on Lily, who was now in a great deal of distress. Why on earth would Snape pull that with Sirius only a few tables away? How daft can he get? I hadn't realized I was staring at Lily and Snape…until Sirius reminded me.

"Hey! Caroline! Hello…?"

I jerked my head back to him. Come on, Lily. If Sirius sees Snape doing this…

"What?"

"What are you looking at? You look like you just looked at the most attractive man on the planet." He began to turn around.

"No!"

I jerked his head back towards me. He creases his brow and laugh.

"You don't have to be embarrassed. Just let me see what he looks like!" He turned around again. I looked away. Oh no…

Suddenly Sirius burst into laughter.

"Him?" he exclaimed, jerking his thumb toward where Lily and Snape had been standing. Lily and Snape had both vanished! Now, there stood an obese second year Hufflepuff with very bad skin, I might add. I glared at Sirius, appalled as he barked with laughter.

"Shut up. The guy left."

"Right, right."

A/N: Okay, this one's short too. SO SORRY. Just trying to get it out before people kill me. I'll update as soon as possible. Love all of you! Bye!


	27. Problems SolvedSecrets Revealed

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.

**Snowowl201- Thanks for your great reviews! From the way it looks, we seem to have a lot in common! Haha!**

Chapter 27: Problems Solved-Secrets Revealed

"Lily! Hey! Lily!" I called out. I was trying to run with my book bag and looked like a complete fool. Fortunately, Lily heard me the first time and stopped. I was panting when I caught up with her.

I had gotten out of library pretty soon after Lily had managed to get out. Sirius had checked his wrist watch about five minutes later and said he had to go. This was following five grueling minutes of scrutiny from Sirius about the fat second year.

"Lily, are you all right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Lily. I was in the library."

Lily closed her eyes and sighed.

"Sirius was with me."

The color faded from her face.

"Oh no, did he see?"

"No. But he did see a very large pimply Hufflepuff. You owe me big time."

Lily rubbed her forehead.

"Lily, you realize that if Sirius had seen, he would have told James or even had killed Snape himself. "

"I know…"

"You just can't hide this anymore, Lily."

"It was terrible this time…" she whispered. I could hear her voice quaver. I put a hand on her shoulder.

"James would know what to do about it if you told him. He'd do anything for you, Lily."

She looked up at me, her eyes wet and her lips curled affectionately.

"I know he would."

"Oh Merlin, I think I'm getting a wrinkle." Alice said, buttoning her robe the next morning. Lily and Kelsey had gone to breakfast early with their boyfriends and it was just me and Alice to ourselves.

I rolled my eyes, putting down the Quidditch book on my pillow.

"You're turning eighteen in three months. Why on earth would you have a wrinkle?"

She turned from the mirror.

"This is coming from the girl who still looks sixteen."

I frowned.

"I do?"

"Yeah. You and Kelsey both."

I got up and stood beside her in the mirror.

It was true.

I looked as I did the year before.

Alice, however, looked like she was turning twenty.

Then I remembered.

Kelsey and I won't age. I sighed. What a bummer. I was turning eighteen in June. Kelsey was turning eighteen in February. Then, I thought for a second. Maybe we didn't have to not age. Maybe Dumbledore could do something…yeah! Maybe he could! Maybe Kelsey and I could ask him. I nodded to my reflection with satisfaction. Maybe it would make my boobs bigger.

At lunch that day, I got up the nerve to go up to the teacher's table. It wasn't like it was embarrassing or anything. It must be a Muggle-getting-sucked-into-Hogwarts thing, I guess.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

He looked up at me, his blue eyes twinkling as usual.

"Caroline! How good to see you! What can I do for you?"

His friendly greeting lifted my confidence a bit.

"I'm sorry. Would you mind if I talked to you in private for a second?"

"Not at all!"

Dumbledore excused himself from the table and beckoned me to the corner of the Great Hall.

"What would you like to tell me?" he asked quietly.

"It's about this whole…not aging thing that comes with us being able to be here."

Dumbledore chuckled.

"Ah. I see. So I'm guessing you're asking me if I am able to let you get older physically."

"Yes sir."

"Yes, I can do that for you, Caroline. But, I'm warning you. When you eventually go back to your own world in however much longer-which you know, I'm afraid you won't be able to go back to your regular selves. "

"I know that, sir. It's just that people are noticing." I said.

He nodded. "Well, come with me."

There was a door to our right and Dumbledore opened it and gestured for me to follow.

We were standing in the kitchen and a VERY large kitchen at that. The place was swarming with house-elves. I had never seen a house-elf before and looked around me in awe.

The minute Dumbledore and I walked in, it was pandemonium. They hurried this way and that, rushing up around us, offering us any sort of food or sweet they could find. Dumbledore merely smiled and said that we were just taking a short cut.

I felt sorry for their wasted effort and generously took some of the sweets they were so eagerly offering to me. The most adorable little house-elf batted her lashes at me bashfully.

"Mizzy thanks you." She said in a high, squeaky voice. I grinned.

"She's welcome." I said and hurried after Dumbledore.

"Mizzy hopes we meet again, kind Gryffindor!" she squeaked after me. I tried hard not to laugh. Dumbledore bid goodbye to the squealing house-elves and led me through a back door.

"Here," he said. "This is a back staircase to my office. No one knows about it."

He gave me a look giving me the assumption he didn't want me to tell anyone and I nodded. I smirked to myself. I bet James, Sirius, Remus and Peter didn't know about this one.

We entered his office but instead of going to his desk, he beckoned me towards a glass cabinet. He took out two glass bottles containing a substance that looked like Scope mouthwash.

"Here." He handed them to me. "You and Miss Jistel drink one of these each. You'll feel very light-headed for quite some time afterwards. I recommend drinking it just before you go to bed."

I nodded. I tucked them into my robe, nodded in goodbye and left his office through the main doors. I would give Kelsey here bottle later. Maybe she would talk to me a little more after this. She had been talking to me more often and I was very grateful of that. Maybe we wouldn't have to go to Hogsmeade together after all. Not that it was a bad thing, but for some reason, Sirius's offer was very intriguing.

Quidditch practice again started a week ago. It felt good to be back on a broomstick. It's one of the most liberating and exciting things I've ever done. I can see why James loves it so much. Besides, the view from up there is INCREDIBLE.

James has been pushing us incredibly hard since we've been a bit behind because of what happened our last game. We're against Slytherin our next game and apparently they're our toughest competition. They have incredibly aggressive beaters so James has been having Sirius and I train overtime.

We've both come in from practice far more exhausted than the other players. James could care less with the game coming so close. I don't whine or complain though. I know how important it is to him. Sirius told me he should have been named Captain our fifth year but the Quidditch captain then wouldn't give up the position. He graduated last year.

"Okay. We'll practice again tomorrow same time." James said after practice. I dismounted and began to walk across the field.

"Wait! Caroline!"

I groaned.

"James, do Sirius and I really have to practice more today? I still have an essay due."

James shook his head as he approached me; Sirius was not far behind.

"Sirius told me he saw you and Lily talking in the hallway yesterday."

"So?"

"Caroline, she looked like she was crying." Sirius said. There was nothing more I wanted to do than tell James everything. I wanted him to beat up Snape because frankly, after what he's been doing to Lily, he deserved it. Maybe not by the lake their fifth year, but now he did. The urge was so strong now that I was truly considering it.

Until I thought of Lily.

She was trying so desperately to keep her problem with Snape a secret that I didn't know what she would think of me if I told James. The last thing I wanted was another ruined friendship. And yes, I would not be surprised if James went into an all out rampage and I don't know what Lily would do if he got expelled.

"She wasn't crying." I finally said. James was getting impatient.

"Shite Caroline, I know something is going on and I'm worried sick about it. It's been bothering me for weeks and please, if you know something, just tell me. If she wasn't crying then what was wrong?"

I was doing some very fast thinking.

"She was telling me about the necklace you gave her and she just got a bit choked up." Change the subject, change the subject…

"That was really, really, really nice of you." I added.

James smiled and shrugged. Good, he bought it.

"Well, she deserved it. I've just been waiting for the right time to give it to her."

"Yes. Yes, she does. It's quite a necklace."

"Thank you."

Awkward silence.

"I have to go give something to Kelsey, so I'll see you later, I guess." I said, remembering the ageing potion.

"Are you talking to her?" Sirius exclaimed, his eyes lighting.

I sighed slightly.

"I'm talking to her more. I took your advice. I apologized to her. And she apologized to me so…we'll see where we turn up. But we aren't fighting anymore."

"Thank Merlin."

I shrugged and smiled before quickly leaving, not wanting to lead to another question on the hot seat. Besides, I had to give Kelsey her aging potion as well.

It wasn't until after dinner that I was able to get to Kelsey alone. I pulled her into a small corridor off of the main hallways and she came without a complaint or fuss (thankfully).

"I know you're going to thank me for this." I whispered to her. Kelsey looked excited.

"What is it?"

Looking around me cautiously, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the two vials of the aqua liquid. Kelsey eyed it suspiciously.

"What is it exactly?"

"It's an aging potion that Dumbledore gave me. It'll let us get older."

Kelsey had first looked extremely hesitant.

"Aging as in…Fred and George in Goblet of Fire aging?"

I had to laugh at this.

"No, no. Age as in we'll look 18 when we turn 18; look 20 when we turn 20."

Kelsey smiled broadly.

"Let's drink it now!" she exclaimed, seizing her vial.

"Well, Dumbledore said it'll make you feel very light-headed and we should drink it before we go to sleep." I said. Kelsey scoffed.

"Rubbish. What's a little light-headedness?" she said, swatting her hand at me. "Come on. It's nothing to be bloody frightened of." She said, unscrewing the round top.

"If you insist." I said, following suit. She held hers up to mine.

"Ready?"

I nodded

"Cheers." We clinked our bottles together and chugged.

Unfortunately, it did not taste like Scope mouthwash. Kelsey's face crunched together in a grimace. It was cool and slippery and a combination of asparagus and liquor.

It slid down my throat with an oozy thickness that I was definitely not fond of. Kelsey wheezed, holding out her empty vial in front of her as if holding a dead skunk.

"Oh my." She croaked. "That's sickening."

I coughed unattractively.

Then the light-headedness came.

"Is it just me or is it incredibly hazy in here?"

"Merlin, I'm dizzy…"

Kelsey began to tumble and grabbed my sleeve before we both rolled into the hallway and into a heap on the stone. She looked at me with a shocked, drowsy look and then suddenly we both burst into laughter.

When Dumbledore said light-headedness, he failed to mention downright tipsy.

Kelsey and I were sitting there trying to say something, but it turned into brawls of laughter or wheezing. Kelsey was in tears.

"Woo…I don't know what was in that thing, but it definitely wasn't pumpkin juice…" Kelsey giggled, slapping my arm. I burst into laughter and slapped her arm back.

"God, I'm sorry for everything I've ever said to you. I never realized how big of a bitch I am!" I said, laughing.

Kelsey scoffed, laughing hysterically as well.

"No, really. I'm sorry! Broomsticks are cool…" She slumped over a bit and I reached over and pulled her upright.

"Are we all patched up again?" I asked, the question sliding over my tongue in almost one word.

"Oh yeah. Nothing between us anymore!" Kelsey croaked.

"What's all this?"

We both looked up to see Sirius, looking down at us as if we were both mad. We looked up at him, then at each other and once again, burst into laughter. James, Remus and Peter appeared beside him.

Remus looked somewhat relieved at out behavior. James, Sirius and Peter, on the other hand, looked scared.

"So is this…what ever this is…is this implying that you two are friends again?" Remus asked.

"Friends? Again?" I swung my head towards Kelsey and sloppily pointed my finger at her, but it sort of flopped downwards.

"Were we ever not?" I slurred.

"Yeah," Kelsey replied, still wheezing with laughter.

"Oh." I said, my vocal cords rising high for a moment. "Then, yeah. I guess so!" I managed to add before Kelsey and I both burst into giggles again.

Sirius was convinced we were both drunk.

The four of them we talking amongst themselves while Kelsey and I tried to regain our composure as much as we could. Shaking with silent laughter all the while. I leaned against the wall and turned towards the courtyard and froze.

Lily was paler than she ever had been and was trying to walk away but this time, Snape had her by the arm. Something, as far as I was concerned, he had never dared before.

Without taking my eyes off them, I reached my arm over and nudged Kelsey with my hand. I pointed toward Lily and Snape and I knew Kelsey had seen because the wheezing…and breathing had stopped all together.

I slowly turned my head towards her and her expression of anger, frustration and fear matched mine. I trailed my eyes up towards James and back to Kelsey.

Kelsey gave me a look of warning. She shook her head, frantically looking from me to Lily and Snape and subtly towards James. I returned her with a sad, determined look and nodded, contrary to her warning.

Kelsey looked away as I upturned my face towards James.

"James."

He turned from his conversation with his friends and looked down at me.

I looked up at him, but I couldn't find any words to explain it to him.

"What?" he asked after a few seconds. I looked down at the stone, and back at James before raising my hand and pointed towards the courtyard.

I watched James follow my finger and suddenly, his expression changed.

His eyebrows creased, his eyes widening ever so slightly. His jaw was clenched and his fists tightened, the veins elevating in his forearms.

I looked down at the stone once again. Kelsey had her hand up to her face.

"What is he doing?" Came James's voice. It was deep and eerily quiet.

I sighed shakily.

"He's…"

I looked up again.

James had vanished.

A/N: I'm so sorry for the terribly long delay! But I'm not so sorry about this cliffhanger. HA! My grades have been plummeting and that was a bit more important. Review please!


	28. James Potter Is Going To Kick Your Arse

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for my own. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.

Chapter 28: James Potter Is Going to Kick Your Arse

Lily inched away slowly from Snape, glaring at him with deep contempt.

"Just leave me alone, Snape."

She had tried to walk away earlier, but he actually grabbed her wrist! At first it startled and frightened her but now she was becoming annoyed, and she tried to bring back the color to her pasty complexion.

At first, the threats were about her parents, but as time went by, Snape seemed to not be able to come up with anymore graphic visions of her parent's vicious death and had moved on to other ways to agitate or frighten her.

Unfortunately, Snape was not leaving her alone. Lily had grown accustomed to hearing all of it and now little of it all was seeping into her conscience. But as she stood there, shaking from Snape's threats, she realized how much she would give to have James here right now.

"LILY!"

The voice was loud and deep. Lily turned but whirled back to where Snape was standing. Snape took one glanced towards the particular voice through his slimy follicles and fled, sliding through the students. Lily turned back around again. James was rushing towards her with such urgency that he was grasping her shoulders before she could blink.

"Are you all right?" His expression was a mixture of anger and concern.

"I'm fine." She said this unconvincingly.

"What was he doing, Lily. What was he saying?" He demanded, his voice quavering with utmost loathing.

The tone of James's voice made Lily half afraid to say anything.

"He--well…he's been…"

James watched Lily attempt to articulate and sighed when he realized how harsh he had sounded. He loosened his hands on her shoulders.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me." He said softly. He quickly turned to where Snape had fled.

"I'll be back." He said and sprinted after Snape with rage that could not be compared to.

"Wait! James! Don't!"

But it was too late. Sirius sped pass her an instant later.

"Sirius! Please stop him!"

"Like hell!" he echoed, close behind James.

"Don't worry, Lily," came Remus's voice behind her. "I'll try."

He ran after them too. Lily stood there, unsure if to follow or stay. Kelsey and I hurried up beside her.

"He saw the two of you." I said.

Lily sighed in such away you would have thought she had a migraine. And perhaps she did.

"What do I do?"

"Let's follow them." Kelsey said. The three of us rushed out of the courtyard, our feet pounding hard against the stone.

"SNAPE!" James roared his voice so loud it was hoarse and slammed into the stone walls with intense echoes. He had never been so angry in his entire life and this affected the speed of his run-faster than he has ever run. Students stopped in their tracks to watch James sprint down the hallway. Contributing to Snape's fate, a 6th year Ravenclaw shouted,

"He went that way!"

James had little time to acknowledge who had given him this notice and furiously zoomed down the corridor.

"Prongs!" Sirius yelled behind him but James didn't stop or hesitate.

Then there was Snape.

With all the anger in his heart, James lunged at Snape, knocking Snape to the floor. Snape rolled over on the ground and tried to maneuver out from under James but James had him by the cuff of his robe. Being much lighter than James, Snape was lifted from the ground and James slammed him into a wall.

"What the hell are you trying to pull! You bloody bastard!"

Snape said nothing but the glare on his ugly face held a thousand words. The silence aggravated James further. He gritted his teeth together and jerked Snape's head close to his.

"I saved your bloody life. You're in debt to me and this is what you do? Threaten my girlfriend?" he growled, his eyes blazing. "I know you're doing it because of me, you son of a bitch, not because of her so you'd better leave her alone. If you dare talk to her again, I swear I'll—"

"James!"

James turned his head from Snape and suddenly it hit him that practically the entire student body was surrounding him and Snape. Lily was looking at him with her eyes wider than he had ever seen them. Only, her expression puzzled him. It wasn't angry or annoyed or upset. It was scared and shocked but she seemed to be siding with him. Not sympathizing with Snape like she used to.

"James, please don't. He's not worth it." She said, her voice small.

The tone of her voice hit James right in the chest. He turned back to Snape and returned Snape's look of disgust before letting go of him. Snape crumbled to the floor in a wriggling heap. James looked around him, half embarrassed at the look on everyone's faces.

"Go back to your dormitories now." He said, his voice of authority as a Head Boy should be. People did not hesitate and began to scatter. He looked at his group of friends and opened his mouth to say something, completely unsure of what to say. Suddenly, Lily and Sirius' expressions changed.

"JAMES!" they shouted simultaneously. James turned around just has Snape's fist hurled into his face. James tumbled backward and landed hard on the floor. He raised his hand to his jaw and pain exploded through his skin at his touch. At this, all the students came rushing back. Snape was clenching is crooked, yellow teeth and his contempt for James was incomparable. I slammed my hand over my mouth. Lily gasped and reached out and gripped Sirius' arm.

James was in temporary shock and before he could stand, Snape lunged at him. James' reflexes then sprang to action. He rolled out of the way and shot his leg up and kicked Snape backward. Snape flew backwards into the stone ground.

James leapt to his feet.

At this point, so had Snape.

Snape was relentless. He jumped at James again but James was too quick for him. James cranked his arm back and with a roar, shot right into Snape's nose. The crowd jumped and whooped. Snape threw another punch and so did James.

At last, James whipped out his wand before Snape and sent him crashing into a statue. Snape reached into his pocket and,

"_ENOUGH!" _

The entire hall froze. Everyone capable of moving turned toward the screeching voice.

It was Professor McGonagall.

"You...two." she managed, pointing at James and Snape. She was shaking from head to toe.

"You two to Professor Dumbledore's office…_now. _"

James and Snape followed her, bruised and bloody, leaving all the others standing there unable to do anything.

"Never in all of all my years at Hogwarts…" McGonagall murmured as she led Snape and James down the hallway. Leading them to the statue and up the secret stairwell, she stopped at Dumbledore's office door. She shot James and Snape an icy glare before knocking.

"Let them in." Dumbledore said from inside. McGonagall opened the large door and stepped out of the way and James and Snape went inside.

"James, Severus. Sit down, please."

They walked forward and sat.

Dumbledore was seated in front of them. He folded his hands on the desk and bore his eyes into them, making James quite uncomfortable.

"This incident was a bad decision on both of your parts. But because James, you are Head Boy and both of you are in your final year of Hogwarts, it would be a waste to ask either of you to leave school. You will both receive lengthy detention."

James let out a breath that he had been holding in for some time. It was just detention.

" I'm not asking you why this quarral began because it doesn't need an explanation from especially the two of you. I advise the both you to put this grudge and detestation behind you and learn to get along and work together. You are both top in the class and this contempt will not be held responsible for your actions any longer."

Dumbledore was asking for a near miracle and James and Snape both knew it. Nonetheless, they both nodded.

"You're both excused." Dumbledore said, kindly. Snape and James stood and turned to leave.

"Wait, Mr. Potter, I would like to speak to you for one moment."

James remained where he was but noticed a faint smirk and snicker from Snape before he slithered through the door.

"Yes, sir?"

"Mr. Potter, you are in a position of authority in this school and many students look up to you and Miss Evans as role models. I advise you keep your detentions to a minimum this year?" Dumbledore said, slightly chuckling.

"Yes, Professor."

"And I ask you not to take whatever Mr. Snape says personally. It's always bluff."

"I know that, sir."

"Then what possibly did he say that provoked you this time?"

" I think he's been threatening Lily for some time, sir."

"I see…and you just found out about this not that long ago, which provoked you." Dumbledore predicted.

"Yes, sir.

"And what has he been saying to Miss Evans?"

James chewed at the inside of his cheek.

"Well, I…I don't know, Professor." He said. "But whatever it is, it's put her in quite a state." He added quickly.

"I would talk to her about it, James. Before you jump to violence again."

"I will, Professor."

Dumbledore smiled.

"Well, you're excused."

James said goodbye and quickly left, eager to get back to the Common Room as soon as possible.

Just as he suspected, the instant he entered the portrait, he was pelted for information:

_"Were you expelled?"_

_"Did you lose your badge?"_

_"Was SNAPE expelled?"_

_"Was it terrible?"_

_"He WASN'T expelled?"_

_"What happened?"_

_"Couldn't he have been at least SUSPENDED?"_

It took some effort to manage to get everyone back to their dormitories until only a select few were in the Common Room, namely, Sirius, Lily, Remus, Peter, me, Kelsey, Alice.

"What happened, mate?" Sirius asked.

"I, uh, I get detention. A lot of detention." James said, sitting down on a couch.

"What about Snape?" Lily asked, sitting down next to him.

"Same as me."

"That's IT?" I said. "But he attacked you."

"Well, it wasn't like I didn't." He said.

"Glad you did, mate." Sirius said, slapping his back. Lily shot him a look.

"Look, I think James and Lily need to talk alone…so," I said looking at Lily. "So, Sirius, get out of here. Everyone else too."

I pushed Sirius up the stairs and Alice, Kelsey, Remus and Peter followed.

James and Lily sat alone and said nothing for a few moments.

"James, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Snape…"

"I know why you didn't. I'm lucky I didn't get expelled."

"That's what I've been afraid of."

James put his arm around her.

"It's all right. I promise he won't bother you again." He said. "Speaking of which, what was he saying?"

Lily slipped out from under his arm so she could look at him.

"It started after Cecily's parents were killed. I was walking Potions, I think, and he came up to me and started saying that the same thing was going to happen to my mum and dad and he went into extremely graphic detail and I could truly mentally picture it. It scared me, James. It really did."

"I'm sure."

"Well, I thought that was it, but he kept doing iteven whenhe couldn't think of anything else to say that would frighten me like that. It gave me nightmares and terrible visions that were too real for comfort. But instead of stopping, he just kept going."

James said nothing, letting her finish.

"Caroline—well, not just Caroline, but she's been trying to get me to tell you for weeks but I'll be honest with you James…I didn't tell you because I didn't want to become so dependant on you."

"Dependent on me? As in, not to be at your beckoning call?

"Not only that, I didn't want you to stick up for me all the time. It was my problem with Snape and you didn't need to be involved."

James sighed. "Lily, I know how independent you are. Trust me. I know too well. But, you know you can come to me if you need help. That's practically why I'm here." He said, taking her hands. "It's my job…pretty much."

Lily laughed. "I know that."

She looked down at her lap and James felt his heart melt just looking at her with strands of her dark red hair falling into her eyes, which were open but because she was looking down he could only see a sparkle of green underneath her long lashes. James bent his head slightly so he could see more of her face and smiled.

"So are we okay?"

Lily looked up at him and smiled.

"Were we ever not?"

James grinned.

"I guess not.

Lily smiled.

"Don't worry about me, James. I'm fine."

"Okay."

She kissed him before frowning at him.

"Merlin, James. He really beat your face up hard." She said wincing as she raised her hands to his bruised face.

"Its fine, Lil, I'll—"

"No, stand still." She insisted. Taking out her wand, she conjured at handkerchief. She lifted his chin, and dabbed at the now dried blood and bruises. Suddenly remembering a spell from Charms, she was able to reduce the swelling with the assistance of her fingers which she brushed over the bruises just for James' own comfort.

"There. That'll do." She said, giving his face another examination before feeling completely satisfied. "Any better?"

"Yeah, much better."

"Good." She said, smiling. Letting out a slight sigh, she stood up.

"I didn't sleep well last night, so I better, you know, go to bed."

"Yeah. Yeah, me too." James said, standing up quickly. He held out his hand, giving her a lopsided grin. She took it and they walked up the dormitory stairs together.

A/N: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I haven't updated in FOR-EV-ER! I am soooo sorry. Truly! Well, good thing is, school is out and I passed algebra so I'm all good for some major writing this summer! Yay! So much time! excitement Anyways, I've decided I'm taking too long in seventh year (I'm not even at Christmas break yet! Although it's only a few days away) so expect in the next chapter to be in at least February. Haha. Slow, silly me. THANK ALL OF YOU FOR SUCH SWEET REVIEWS! Really motivates me to get these chapters out! Really appreciate it. Good bye!


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